Ever Connected
by Bananabonanzas
Summary: "Time flows, Ever circular, It is life ever connected..." A modern Kaoru is stunned to find a wanderer in need of help, clearly confused and a little delusional. Can he find his way home? Set after Kenshin's wandering, but before meeting Kaoru and the group.
1. Chapter 1

First Attempt. Here goes. Not sure if anyone will read this, but it's been a long time since I stretched my creative muscles... and it's about damned time. This story is set at the end of Kenshin's wandering, but before meeting Kaoru and the gang. Everything before that is cannon... everything after is modern. I know, I k now. This could o very wrong, very quickly.

And with that...

**Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and it's characters are creative property of awesome people that are not me. I'm simply a fan that is playing around a bit. So please don't hurt me. **

I hope you find this story at least a _little _entertaining.

**Ever Connected**

_Time Flows_

_and flows_

_and flows_

_A rushing stream_

_An ebbing river_

_steadily drifting ever onward_

_Ever circular_

_It is life ever connected_

_Meaning and purpose_

_It is pain and sorrow_

_Happiness and wayward thought_

_Forever pulling into forever_

_Circling stillness_

_Encompassing nothingness_

_and creating it_

_Tomorrow is past_

_The future_

_the present_

_The fleeting water receding_

_for a shifting eternity_

_Time flows_

**Chapter One: Wintersong**

The streets were empty as her little car sputtered its way down the mostly darkened hill. Semi-lit streetlamps cast a soft orange-yellow glow upon the snow covered ground, leaving a cloud of icy glitter with every gust of snow-laden wind.

From the warmth of the front seat, she had a cozy view of the winter's night and held her breath in anticipation as she rounded the last corner and began her final descent. Her car emerged from the trees and she smiled in awe as the city-_ her city_- rose into full and glorious view.

It probably wasn't much to behold for the average person, but Kaoru Kamiya looked forward to the picturesque view of her sleepy city at night. It was the only thing she really liked about working late, and the reason she often took the long way home. There was something about this view. She liked watching the businesses turn off their lights. She liked seeing all of the little houses and imagining all the people with their families. She liked the warm feeling that spread over her in the perfect moment it all came into panoramic focus. And she was never disappointed.

Nearly every night the lights from the businesses and houses sparkled and shone like little dots in a dark ocean, but tonight they seemed... softer and warmer. Like a thick cozy blanket of white had lulled it all to sleep. After all, it _was_ Christmas eve. She was sure the people below would be at home tucking their loved ones into bed, and dreaming of the delight they would experience tomorrow.

For a brief moment she wished that she were a part of it all.

Tomorrow would mark her first Christmas since her father's death. Her smile faltered a bit as she considered the ramifications. Although it had been nearly a year since his death, she hadn't totally appreciated the little holes that would be left in her life, now that he was no longer in it. She wondered what it would be like for the first time in her life to _not_ wake up to the familiar smell of coffee and the sound of sizzling bacon, her father's favorite holiday-morning routine.

She took a deep breath and shook her head, declaring that thought over and finished. Dead and buried. Christmas was what it was. Whatever it brought, she would survive it. Also, her boss had given her a bottle of wine and she was pretty sure that would help in a pinch.

She parked in the driveway of a small, somewhat rundown brown stone house, turned the ignition off, grabbed he bottle of wine and her bag, and headed up the walkway toward the small front porch.

A figure shifted in one of the chairs beside the door, freezing her in place. It was too dark to make out any features and the figure blended into the chair too easily for her to judge what it was, or even the size it was.

It moved from the chair and headed toward her, causing her to drop her bag and her wine in the snow. Anger surged through her at the thought of someone or some_thing_ waiting in the dark to scare her, and she raised her hands in a readied position. If this creature, whatever it was, wanted a fight it was going to get one.

"God! Finally! Took you long enough!", the shadow spoke as he stepped forward and into the moonlight.

All apprehension drained out of Kaoru as she marched to the steps of the porch and rapped it on the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for? You're the one coming in late!" The boy yelled, rubbing the side of his head.

"Yahiko, don't DO that!", Kaoru huffed as she bent down to pick up her discarded things, now wet from the snow.

The unkempt boy grinned. "Ha ha. I scared you!"

"You did not scare me."

"Yes I did! I got you. Admit it!"

"I admit nothing. I was about to beat you up, you little twerp."

"Yeah, whatever. I totally got you."

Kaoru pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. No sooner had the door opened a crack before Yahiko was inside, shivering and rubbing his arms. _ He must have been waiting a long time,_ she thought to herself, suddenly feeling guilty for taking the long way home.

Clad in nothing but a snow covered hooded sweatshirt, jeans, and running shoes, he looked bedraggled and pathetic. Far too small for his big personality.

"Are you hungry?" She asked, non-nonchalantly trying to figure out how long he intended on visiting her.

He hesitated, unsure as to how he should answer. _He was... but..._

"I have some instant noodles in the cupboard and a microwave dinner in the freezer." She sighed, knowing full well why he had hesitated.

At that, his eyes lit up and he trotted into the kitchen, flicking the light on.

Kaoru rolled her eyes as she hung up her coat and bag, and put on her slippers. Granted, she was not the_ best_ cook in town, but she didn't think she was as bad as Yahiko would have her believe. That being said, her most successful dinners did come from the microwave...

She shivered as slight draft slipped by her. She walked into the main living room and turned on the portable heater, and took a seat in one of the comfy chairs just beside its glowing warmth. What she wouldn't give for a fireplace!

Her house wasn't a bad house. It had lots of good to it: Strong walls, a sound roof, and many happy memories. It did, however, need a bit of work: The insulation was kind of spotty, leaving random cold spots in the winter, and it was a bit rundown in over all appearance, which often bothered her. It was a simple place, but a welcoming place, and it always made her smile.

Her thoughts turned toward the kitchen and the curse words so easily spouting from the 10 year old's mouth, as several loud bangs pierced her silent musings. _He must have dropped something, _she thought to herself, shaking her head. She debated about going in and helping him, but she knew that would only upset him. He wanted so desperately to be independent.

That thought made her sigh. She hadn't meant to be some sort of shelter, not that she minded much, but he had always looked angry and a bit lost. He always had far too many bruises to be accidental, and his clothes never seemed to change. One day she found him in her garden. Not bothering anything, just sitting and staring at the weeds, distractedly poking at them with a stick that had fallen from the nearby maple tree. Once she had inquired where he lived, and a neighbor directed her to a foster home a block away. From bits of conversation she learned that his parents had died a few years earlier, leaving him without any family or inheritance to keep him safe.

Sometimes she felt like her father had sent him to her to watch over. He didn't need a mother, as he so often reminded her when she tried to make him wear his sweater or finish his vegetables, but every so often she would catch a small smile as he looked away. Of course he would go right on and do whatever he wished, which frustrated the hell out of her, but he always seemed thankful for what little she could give, and over time he became more and more comfortable with her and their odd arrangement. More recently, she had set up a room for him to sleep in, claiming annoyance that she couldn't use her couch when he slept over. It didn't really annoy her, but it was the best way to prod him into an unfamiliar space and make it his own. Kaoru had a feeling it had been a long time since he had something that was his alone.

He flopped himself onto the couch, bowl of instant noodles in hand, and proceeded to devour it's contents.

"So, should I assume you're staying over tonight?" Kaoru asked, non-nonchalantly.

Yahiko paused, dark eyes darting toward her.

"Yeah. I guess. I mean, if that's ok." He awkwardly looked away from her, then down at his dinner. His shoulders seemed to slump, causing Kaoru a small pang of anxiety.

"Yahiko, you know you are always welcome here. I'm just concerned sometimes that your foster parents don't know that you are safe. I don't want them to worry..."

"Yeah, well, they're the ones that locked me out. They don't seem too worried, so you shouldn't be either." His voice was sharp and angry.

Kaoru felt instantly bad for having brought up the subject. _What kind of people would lock a child out of their house on Christmas bloody eve?_ She closed her eyes for a moment, deciding how to proceed...

"Well then lucky me. I get you for Christmas eve and Christmas morning." She smiled brightly at him, meaning exactly what she said. _ That being said..._

She purposefully walked into the kitchen, straight to the refrigerator, and opened the door, praying.

It appeared, however, that the gods did not hear her prayer. Sadly, there was very little one could make for breakfast with baking soda, an empty pickle jar and an orange. She really needed to go shopping, but it was late.

And snowy.

And cold.

She sighed as she realized that she couldn't possibly use the weather as an excuse to disappoint the dejected boy, currently slumped in front of the heater.

"I'm heading out to get groceries. I'll be back soon", she yelled over her shoulder as she mentally prepared herself to head back to the car and away from the lovely heat of her favorite chair.

"'Kay." He yelled in response, heading back to the kitchen to microwave something else.

-o0-0o-

The wind had picked up in the time it had taken her to leave her warm little home. It whistled and whipped streams of white powder across her snow-covered route. There was only one market she could think of that would still be open, and she slowly made her way in that direction.

By the time she reached the small market, it was difficult to see. Large gusts of snow-filled wind created a nearly impenetrable fog, that swirled between Kaoru and the neon sign that was still lit. She smiled, and ducked out of the car and then ducked into the shop.

Bursting into the shop with the wind on her tail, and leaving a fluttering confetti-cloud of white behind her, she looked around and began her shopping excursion. Grabbing a handful of this and that, she filled up on the kinds of things she thought a 10 year old might like to eat, pausing only briefly before giving in and buying a package of bacon. _After all, it wouldn't be Christmas without it._

_Some sweet bread, some fresh tea, some snacks..._She took stock as she placed her items in front of the clerk, and promptly paid.

Grabbing her bags and heading back out into the snow, she paused. She thought she saw a flash of something from beside a bank of snow on the other side of the parking lot. Looking harder, it was gone. That being said, the wind hadn't let up, and it appeared she was now going to be caught in a blizzard. She packed the groceries away in the car, turned on the ignition and turned the car around slowly to leave the parking lot.

This time she saw something flapping, although she couldn't make out much. It looked like it could be cloth, but she couldn't be sure. She felt bad for anyone who would be walking in this kind of weather, but as she drove nearer she saw no one on the street or sidewalk.

One more quick gust, followed by a moment of visibility revealed a bundle of something wrapped in cloth, partially covered with snow. Kaoru froze when she saw a brief, jerky movement that did not match the wind's fury. This was a person.

There was a person in that snow bank.

She slammed on the brakes, put the car in park and leaving the car door wide open, ran toward the object in question.

As she stumbled toward it, she was able to better identify the shape of a human body. There was a leg, and an arm, but most of the torso was encased in snow. Slipping to a stop beside it, she began to dig through the snow, anxiety increasing as she found one very cold, very pale hand.

_Oh Gods. Please be ok._

With a few tugs and more digging, she uncovered a small, cold figure, wet snow caked to its face and clothing, and covered in bruising. She couldn't tell if there were more injuries that she was unable to see, but this person did not seem to be breathing. She reached down and peeled the long and frozen hair away from the figure's face, barely revealing smooth, pale features.

She was sure this was a man, but he looked so very young. Clad in long, flowing material now dirty and stiff with ice, his eyes appeared to be partially open. Half-open violet eyes stared up at her, unmoving.

"Don't be dead. Please don't be dead." She said aloud, lifting his head and neck toward her.

There it was: She could feel him breathing. It was low and erratic, but it was good enough. Relief flooded briefly through her, until she realized that he might not be alright for very long.

She turned back to look at the store she had just left, but she could no longer see the sign.

_Is the storm getting that bad?_, She thought, pulling herself to a standing position and squinting. _No, the light is off. If the store is closed, it must be well past midnight. Crap._

She couldn't call an ambulance. He might die of exposure before the emergency workers ever arrived. If she was going to save him, it would have to be done _her_ way.

She leaned down to him again and reached into the snow, carefully attempting to lift him, but as she did one very cold hand shot forward, grabbing her shoulder, and scaring her half to death.

She let out a yelp and fell over backward, utterly surprised, onto the parking lot. She could hear panicked breathing and see a grasping hand laying in the snow.

Steeling herself, she moved back to the man and spoke, "I'm not going to hurt you, ok? I just need to get you somewhere warm. So don't do anything crazy, alright?"

Looking down at him she could see a wild look in his eyes, like some sort of cornered creature. Utter confusion and anxiety flicked wildly across his face. For a split second she was glad the extreme cold had him somewhat sedated.

Continuing to coax him, she was able to awkwardly pull him out of the snowbank. She took off her jacket and wrapped it around him, rubbing his arms, in an attempt to bring warmth. He leaned into the heat she offered, and began to shiver.

That was a good sign. Shivering meant his body was working to warm him.

"I'm sorry, I can't lift you very well." She apologized, realizing how heavy he was, despite his small stature. "I may need to drag you. Sorry."

Thankfully the car wasn't far and there was very little dragging that needed to be done. As he got nearer to the car, he started to try lifting himself, making it a bit easier to get him inside the door and situated inside the passenger seat.

Once he was safely inside, she rushed to the driver's side, closing the door as she entered, and slammed on the heat.

Shivering, she sat in quiet contemplation.

_What the hell do I do now?_


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: Wrote another one so I decided to post it right away... not normally like that so no unfair expectations, ok? Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed. It is very much appreciated. I love to hear your input, so please keep it up! I realize the scope of the story might get a little wide, but I'm up for it if you are. I'm not a fan of _deus ex machina _so it'll be more organic... and maybe a but longer as a result. Either way, let's get on with it...

**Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and by default its characters, are not mine. Nor will it ever be mine. I asked. And they told me to get off of their property. **

_Time is a brisk wind, for each hour it brings something new... but who can understand and measure its sharp breath, its mystery and its design? ~Paracelsus_

**Chapter 2: Explaining to Do**

She could take him to the hospital. They could take care of him, certainly much better than she could. But they would have to sit and wait, likely for hours, and she hated the idea of leaving Yahiko alone. She had forgotten her cellphone on the living room table, a stupid thing to do when heading out in a storm, and she cursed herself for her poor planning. She knew in her heart that even though he claimed he didn't need anyone, he would stay up worrying, all night if necessary.

She looked over at the man beside her, contemplating the situation.

He was making small movements, looking around. She watched him lift a tentative, shaking hand to the heat vent, the second one quickly following as he let out a raged breath.

"Show me your hands, ok? I want to know if they are frostbitten.", she said, gently.

The shivering man ignored her, head down and eyes closed.

"I'm not going to hurt you, remember? I just want to make sure you are ok."

More silence.

She sighed.

Outside of the small car, it had become an unrelenting blizzard. The snow whipping around the car in sheets, she worried that they might not make it home, forget about anywhere else. _ Was she a terrible person for not wanting to take him to the hospital? Was she even worse for claiming Yahiko as the reason?_

The man beside her shuddered and wrapped his arms around his body.

She was wasting valuable time. A decision had to be made. They were going to her house to assess the damage, and then call an ambulance if necessary. He needed to be out of those wet clothes and somewhere warm, packed in blankets, and if it was to be in her living room then so be it.

"Ok. Here we go.", She let out a breath as she spoke.

The drive home, although treacherous, was uneventful. Upon pulling out of the parking lot, her passenger had laid his head against the window and closed his eyes.

She was a little worried about what that meant, but now they were home, and parked.

She bolted from the car, into the house and yelled for Yahiko.

Drowsily, he meandered into the hallway.

_That little brat was asleep. And here I was worried about him, _she thought, suddenly angry.

"What?" He asked, yawning, until he saw the panicked look on her face.

"Hurry. I need your help." She yelled before running back outside.

Yahiko slipped into his beat up running shoes, and chased after her into the driveway, as she ran to open the passenger side door, yelling over her shoulder to him.

"I need you to help me lift him. We have to get him inside."

When he reached the car, Yahiko stopped dead in his tracks.

He paused for a moment, unsure, then with a grunt and a look of new courage on his face, he got beside Kaoru, and grabbed the man around the waist, helping to hoist him to a nearly standing position.

A sharp breath shot from the small man, causing Yahiko's dark eyes to dart toward Kaoru. She returned the look, the same concern, mirrored.

"Be careful, but let's hurry." She said quietly, Yahiko nodding in agreement.

Once inside, they kicked off their shoes and half-dragged the man up into the living room.

"I have to get these wet clothes off of you, ok?" She said to the man who appeared to be focusing on his own shakey breathing.

"Can he hear you?" Yahiko asked, hovering, unsure of the situation.

"I don't know, but I don't want to scare him." She said, pausing as she tried to figure out where to begin. She had never undressed a man, and she had certainly never undressed an unconscious man, in her living room.

_I am not a pervert. This is medical... this is medical... _

Wincing slightly, she tentatively began stripping his wet clothing off of his body, and tossing it in a soppy pile in the corner.

"Who is he? Why is he wearing those old clothes?"

"I don't know, Yahiko. It doesn't matter right now, right? "

Yahiko continued to stare at the scene in front of him, obviously hesitating.

He was a good kid, and always wanted to help, and Kaoru felt bad for alarming him.

"Can you warm a bath, please?" She asked, finally giving him a job, "Not too hot. Room temperature or a bit colder. We can't shock his system."

He nodded and ran off.

Kaoru let out a focused breath, in an effort to calm herself, as she worked at untying the stubborn, fraying knots of his hakama. Victorious, she slipped them off, and continued to the next layer, feeling her cheeks getting warmer and warmer.

_This is medical... this is medical..._

She had gotten the majority of his clothing off, and began to check him for further injuries. Running her hand under his back, looking for blood or swelling, she jumped up awkwardly when Yahiko returned to tell her the bath was ready.

"This is medical!" She announced, awkwardly, "I was checking for injuries.."

Yahiko paused for a moment, making a face.

"I know that... women are weird...", He huffed to himself.

When she looked down at the man, he was once again looking at her, anxiously. She reached down toward him, and he winced at the contact, his body halfheartedly jumping.

"We're going to try to warm you up." She said to the shivering man, his only response a small moan.

She motioned to Yahiko and together they picked the shivering man off of the floor.

_He's like ice, _She thought, suddenly afraid that she had made the wrong decision in bringing him home, and not to the hospital.

Leaning into her as they proceeded to the bathroom, the man gripped her sleeve, almost painfully, and tighter still when they tried to get him into the bath.

As soon as they got near the water, the man began to thrash and cry out. Nothing distinct. More like an animal in pain or fear, the sound frightening her to her core.

She tightened her own grip and spoke to him as calmly as she could, like she would a small child.

"It's ok. It's ok. The water is warm. Remember we said we were going to make you warm?"

Breathing heavily, wild eyes locked with hers, his arm reached around and grabbed her tightly, using her to keep himself away from the water.

"I know. It's ok. You're ok. You have to trust me."

He glared at the bath, practically willing it to explode, and as Kaoru edged closer to the water, he tightened his grasp, holding onto her like a frightened child.

Kaoru sighed. She had to get him into the water. He was obviously in shock and not thinking clearly.

"Ok", she said, and proceeded to climb into the tub.

Getting herself into a tub, wrapped in an unfamiliar half-naked man was something else that she had not expected would happen tonight. Or ever. _Seriously, who does this happen to?_

Despite her attempts at gently lowering them, he hissed through his teeth as they made their unceremonious contact with the water, and with a hard splash, her acrobatics were complete.

Finally, his grip loosened enough that Kaoru could attempt a self-extraction.

"See? That's not so bad.", she said in a gentle voice, feeling his body relax and the shivering slowly subside as he closed his eyes.

From inside the bath, she was able to move around to inspect him and his injuries more closely. She had noticed in the car, but hadn't really paid attention to, a large scar on his cheek that was shaped in a perfect cross. An old wound, but still quite noticeable. Looking further, she noticed he had a multitude of clean-cut scars across his back and chest, and a series of purple bruises on top of those.

_What is this? Who did this to you?, _She thought, in horror, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

Again she looked to his face, and its angelic features, wondering what he was like when he wasn't driven wild by shock and pain. He looked like he could be gentle, and sincere. Maybe that was the bathwater talking.

"Kaoru..."

Yahiko's voice echoed in the bathroom, reminding her of her little shadow.

"...What do we do?" He asked, "...What now?"

Kaoru looked around and sighed as she formulated a plan.

"Can you get some towels for us, and as many blankets as you can? Also, in my bedroom closet there should be my father's robe.", and with that, Yahiko ran off.

She gently took one hand, and then the other, inspecting his finger tips for signs of frostbite. Finding none, she placed them back into the water, relieved.

Yahiko came back quickly with the towels and robe, and was extremely helpful in getting their new house guest out of the bath and dried off. Kaoru was especially thankful for the help, since their guest was still wearing an article or two of clothing that she had been unwilling to remove,_ for silly schoolgirl reasons, _she chastised herself.

Once the two were dried off and robed, Kaoru brought him to the living room and gently wrapped him in blankets from head to toe, before heading into the kitchen to make some hot tea.

When she returned, their guest had positioned himself in front of the heater, body relaxed, eyes once again closed.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: ** Thanks for the reviews, guys! I appreciate the input, as well as the compliments. It's funny that some of the comments were on how short the chapters are, cause I saw "7 pages" on my laptop for the last chapter, panicked, and erased a page worth of stuff I felt was extra! If you want longer, I will give longer! And yes, explanations are coming about the time travel thing etc. I just hate bad exposition so it will be coming bit by bit. I'll try not to tease you too much. And with that...

**Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin et al were created by Nobuhiro Watsuki, and not myself. I would have way more money. And be much more interesting.**

_A good holiday is one spent among people whose notions of time are vaguer than yours._

_~John B. Priestly_

**Chapter 3:**

He was not ok.

Or maybe he was_. _She really had no point of reference.

_Maybe he's the quiet type?, _She mused, watching him from the kitchen doorway.

He had reached out immediately when she handed him some hot tea, and held it tightly, but he still hadn't looked at her, hadn't spoken, hadn't moved since.

He just sat and stared at the humming heater, as if in a dream.

Sometimes he would move when he heard a loud noise, but instead of looking for its origin he looked at something else: The radio, the television, the table light.

_He was not ok._

_Or maybe he was._

She sighed at her circling thoughts.

It was early morning, and Yahiko had long since gone to bed, leaving her to her exhausted contemplations. She really should have followed Yahiko's lead and gone to bed as well , but how could she possibly sleep! She worried incessantly about the man they had saved from the cold.

She wondered briefly if she should just act naturally, pretending he wasn't there at all. She hadn't realized until then, but she had been standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching him for nearly 20 minutes, and she wondered if standing over him was causing him to feel more awkward than he would be otherwise. Although it was hard to tell if he even understood what was going on, she was worried that he may notice and look over at any moment. She was quite nervous that he might see her watching him so carefully, but she couldn't help but go over his features one by one.

He was a mystery.

His wild dark auburn hair had dried to a very deep red, which surprised her a bit as she hadn't pictured him as the type to dye his hair, let alone a colour so unmistakably bright. It was quite long, nearly longer than hers and in desperate need of brushing. She would have to remember to help him with that later, as he might not be able to do it himself, in his current state.

She also wondered how old he was. His features looked masculine enough, but were very soft in comparison with other men she had known, making it nearly impossible for her to tell. She would be hard-pressed to come up with an accurate age, but she was certain he couldn't be older than 30. _Well... Maybe 25? _She was always terrible at the 'guess my age' game.

The scars and bruises he had all over his body worried her. Was he a victim of torture? Life-long abuse? If he were some kind of street fighter there would be marks on his hands or forearms, proof of him dodging or fending off attacks, but she hadn't seen any when she checked them for frostbite. He did however have heavy callouses...

She wondered if he worked in a dangerous job? Maybe some sort of physical labour that would give him callouses but that could cause personal injury if done incorrectly? After all, he was quite fit and was fairly muscular for someone as small in stature as he was.

She also pondered the idea that he had brain damage.

_Can you get that from extreme cold? _she wondered, committing herself to looking it up on the internet once he was asleep.

Shaking her head at her obsession with this new puzzle, she decided to warm more tea and bring it to him. Maybe he would feel better if she were to sit with him. After all, he had grabbed on to her pretty tightly. Granted they were in pretty extreme situations at the time, but she hoped that his trust level would be high enough that he could respond to her presence in a positive way.

Once she had made more tea, she grabbed a package of cookies and headed into the living room.

His head turned slightly as she approached, but his eyes appeared to be focusing on the photographs that were placed on a small side table.

She smiled, deciding upon the best way to open a conversation, _hopefully_.

"Those are some pictures of my mom and dad.", she spoke in a gentle voice, looking at him tentatively.

When he made no reaction, she continued, picking up the pictures as she went.

"This one is my dad. It was taken at work, with his class. He was a teacher... this one is mom in the kitchen. She was trying to teach me how to make something, but it didn't turn out. She was always a much better cook than I was... of course I was just a child back then...", she shifted closer to him, picking up the photos as she spoke.

"This one was taken at the Zoo. I was 10. We had a great day, possibly the best day I've ever had. This was our last photo together as a family...", she trailed off, a bittersweet expression on her face.

Taking the final picture off of the table, and running her fingers over the simple wood frame, she smiled.

"This one was taken on their wedding day. Mom said it was the happiest day of her life. She looks so beautiful, don't you think?", she gently offered it to him to hold, sad smile on her face.

The man shifted his head toward her, but not his eyes. Staring down at his lap, he reached out and carefully took the picture from her. He looked down at it, unresponsive.

"Would you like some more tea?", She asked, reaching for the cup he had left on the table, before pouring them each a cup. "I'm having some."

Grabbing the bag of cellophane wrapped cookies, she opened the package and offered him one, his gaze switched from the picture in his lap, to the bag of sweets that was being offered.

He paused, distantly, but questioning.

"Take one. You haven't eaten anything, and these are really good."

_Gods, Yahiko was right. I do try to act like everyone's mother_, she thought, carefully watching his reaction and mentally criticizing herself for her bossy tendencies.

However, he rather surprised her when he carefully reached inside the bag and took a cookie, looking down briefly before trying it. Kaoru relaxed slightly and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. This was progress, and she would take it.

"Please, have more if you would like. I'm putting them up here on the table...", she explained, placing them in the designated location.

His eyes followed the bag to the table, and then to the tea she had just poured. Carefully reaching for his cup and taking a sip, he returned to his photographic contemplations.

She yawned, and glanced over at the small clock in the kitchen.

_Two AM. Ugh, _she mentally whined, shifting to lean against the couch.

"It's pretty late. We should probably go to bed soon... You can sleep here on the couch if you'd like...", she offered to the man.

He gently placed the wedding photograph on the side table it had been removed from, and switched his gaze to the lamp on the same table to continue his stare.

There was no other response.

Maybe she would wait up with him after all.

They stayed like that, unmoving for a long while. She wasn't sure for how long, but she suddenly realized that the sun had risen.

_I must have dozed off... _She thought, stretching.

She looked over at the man and found him in the same spot, motionless.

Kaoru wondered if he had fallen asleep sitting up, but from the angle she was facing she could see his eyes were open and he was once again staring into some far fixed distance.

She sighed, a little dismayed at the lack of change in him, until she realized the blanket that had been neatly tucked around her.

-o0-0o-

She must have stared at him for 10 minutes straight, with a tentative smile on her face, waiting. That is until heavily clunking footsteps broke her quiet attention, as a bleary-eyed 10 year old stumbled into the living room and addressed Kaoru.

"I'm hungry. But like, real food hungry. Can we get take out?"

Kaoru's eyes lit up as she remembered her eventful shopping trip from the night before... and the fact that the groceries were still in the car.

She excitedly giggled and rubbed her hands together, thinking of all the fantastic things she could make for the three of them for breakfast. A real family breakfast on Christmas morning! Well, if you could count one runaway foster kid and a catatonic stranger as "family"...

Which she would.

Excited nonetheless, she shoelessly ran out the front door and into the snow covered driveway, grabbed the bags from the car, and rushed back inside where she proceeded to hop around in an effort to warm herself. Or so she claimed. She was just incredibly happy to be able to make a nice breakfast, and especially thankful that she didn't need to be entirely alone on her first Christmas without her father.

Looking at Yahiko, she felt sure that he understood what it was like to be alone.

Her gaze traveled back to the man in the living room, who now appeared to be staring at her bookshelf.

Whoever he was, she thought he might understand as well.

_But enough of that. _ She clapped her hands together, brain formulating 'Breakfast Plan', as she dug through the icy cold bags of likely frozen food.

The bacon was solid, which probably wasn't good, but theoretically fixable. She hoped.

Everything else, juice excepted, was just really cold. She was thankful that most junk food was able to withstand a nuclear winter, since it was pretty much all she had bought.

Kaoru could see Yahiko watching her, eyes wide, as she unpacked the groceries and laid the breakfast ingredients on the counter.

_It's been so long since Yahiko has had a decent home cooked breakfast. Just look how excited he is! _

She smiled to herself, and began to hum.

"Uh, Kaoru?"

"Yes, Yahiko?", she said sweetly.

"Are you going to cook breakfast?"

"Yes, Yahiko."

"Are you sure you can?", he ventured.

Her eyes scrunched into a penetrating gaze.

"And just what do you mean by that, Yahiko?", she said, more a statement than a question.

"..."

He paused, deciding if he should push her past the brink... but ultimately left it alone. It was Christmas morning after all, and she looked really excited. He didn't tell her, but his attempt at choking down the soon to be horrific meal would be his gift to her. He really hoped he would have the strength.

And the stomach.

"...Nothing." Yahiko muttered and walked off, leaving Kaoru to nod in victory.

Stopping in the doorway, Yahiko watched the red-haired man place himself on the couch, having apparently grown tired of analyzing Kaoru's book choices.

The boy must have changed his mind about leaving the kitchen because when Kaoru looked up again, he had returned to her side. Looking very serious and speaking more softly than she'd ever heard him speak he asked, "Is he ok?"

"I don't know, Yahiko. But he's safe and warm and soon to be fed. Right now that's good enough."

She watched Yahiko's face scrunch a bit, pondering that thought.

"Do we know his name?"

_Oh._

She actually had not even thought about it. It didn't seem that important when she was pulling him out of a snowbank, checking him for bleeding, and taking an impromptu bath... But now that everyone was warm and mostly cognizant, he was right that she really should take this opportunity to talk to him a bit and try to figure out who he was, and why he was beaten and laying in a parking lot at midnight.

"...So no then." Yahiko surmised from her blank expression.

She shook her head in response, her consciousness returning to the real world and the dark-eyed child in front of her.

"Fine. I'm on it.", he stated, sounding like some sort of television detective, and heading over to sit on the couch, next to the silent man.

At which point he took a seat, turned to look at the man and totally drew a blank.

_Some detective, _Kaoru smirked to herself, returning to her frostbitten breakfast ingredients.

-o0-0o-

So frozen bacon doesn't microwave well, so she had learned.

Or rather _the package _when microwaved, turns into a giant balloon and pops scaring the life out of anything within a 15 foot radius, namely Kaoru.

It also makes you the victim of several derisive comments from a very hungry 10 year old moocher.

Upon inspection, the bacon itself seemed to be mildly defrosted and mostly intact, so she decided to try to fry it anyway. _ Maybe she could add spices of some kind? Spices can cover any weird flavours, right?_

She turned on the stove-top burner and grabbed a large pan from a very unkempt and vastly unused cupboard, and placed it over the heat, before filling a pot with water and placing it on the stove to boil.

_So: Rice, bacon... cookies..._

She opened another cupboard and took out a bag of cracker-looking objects that she thought looked interesting, and began to arrange them on a plate.

… _Tea..._

She filled the kettle and plugged it in, and put some dry tea leaves into a clean teapot.

… _cheese..._

She grabbed a knife and the block of weird looking white cheese she had purchased last night, ready to cut into it, but put the knife down when she heard the water boiling in the pot.

Grabbing some rice, she dumped it into the water, eying the amount rather than measuring. She was pretty sure it looked about right and she couldn't see any real reason to dirty another dish so she could measure the amount "properly".

_The pan is probably hot now, right?_

She was pretty sure it was, so she pried several pieces of mostly-ok bacon out of the less-than-ok package and dropped them into the pan, a loud sizzling sound proving her assumption correct.

However, it didn't take long before the bacon was sticking to itself and the pan. Also: It wasn't quite right. It was getting black far to quickly, and one side wasn't cooking at all...

Deciding it was good enough, she needed to get the current bacon out of there and get new stuff in, as it was cooking much more quickly than she had expected, so she grabbed a plate and a fork and attempted to extract the bacon that had begun to jump as it loudly popped, and placed a few more pieces in the now searing-hot pan.

_Ok. I've got this now_, she thought to herself.

Just in time for the rice to boil over.

She shrieked, slamming the rice's heat source off and grabbing a spoon to stir the pot's contents, hoping it would calm itself.

_Speaking of calm..._

"Breathe... It's ok..." She said to herself, her quiet meditation clearly working on the bubbling rice as well as her on own temper.

Until smoke and a burning smell struck her nose.

_Crap. Bacon._

She dropped the spoon and poked at the bacon with a fork. It laid stiff and black, surrounded by smoking and bubbling grease, causing Kaoru to growl in frustration.

_Ok. Not a problem. New bacon._

She dumped the contents of the very hot, very sizzling pan in the kitchen sink and brought the pan back to the stove; however, the grease that had been in the pan continued to smoke and sizzle in the stainless steel fixture.

_That may not have been the best plan. _

_No time! Bacon. Right. _

She wheeled herself around again to face the stove, and met with a very stoic Yahiko.

He glared up at her, hands on his hips, brow furrowed.

"What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast.", She said, far too cheerily, gritting her teeth.

"You are going to burn the house down."

She glared down at him.

"I am _not_. I have it _under control_. Now GO WATCH TV."

He was about to say something, when a new burning smell wafted toward them from the kitchen sink.

Moments later, there was a flickering light.

_Holy crap he was right._

Panicking, she tossed the pan she was holding back onto the stove, and ran to the sink to put out the fire, Yahiko in tow barking directions.

"Turn the water on!"

"I KNOW that, Yahiko!"

"Then just do it!"

"I was doing it BEFORE you told me. Now go check on the rice!", Kaoru yelled, turning the cold water on and splashing it around the oil-covered food packaging remnants that she had forgotten were in the sink, as violet eyes peered, unnoticed, around the side of the kitchen door.

Yahiko shook his head and stomped his way over to the pot that held the rice.

"It's not even cooked at all...", he said, poking the spoon at hard, floating rice in milky water.

"What? What do you mean? It's been on this whole time..."

_Oh... Actually..._

She was about to come up with some brilliant excuse as to why that particular part of the stove had been hastily turned off, when the mostly empty, very greasy pan abruptly caught fire.

Engulfed would be a good word.

Directly in front of Yahiko.

Kaoru's eyes widened as she watched blue-gold flames spring to life, directly in front of her young friend.

"Yahiko!" She yelled, racing to push him out of the way.

He let out a quick yell and jumped backward, eyes wide and holding his hand to his chest, as Kaoru leapt from the other side of the kitchen and slammed a pot lid on the pan, extinguishing the flames.

With a quick movement, she grabbed the pan now sputtering and billowing black smoke, threw it into the sink and doused it with enough water to drown a fish.

Eyes wide and apologetic, she ran to Yahiko, who was still holding his hand to his chest, eyes squeezed shut.

"Let me see."

Shaking, she reached out to him and gently pulled his hand toward her to asses the damage, a pang of guilt instantly hitting her. Although not a serious burn _thankfully_, his hand looked quite pink in patches, and was starting to swell.

"Oh Yahiko. I'm so sorry...", she uttered, tears burning behind her eyelids.

Grabbing his good hand, she led him to the washroom, turned the cold water tap on, filled the sink's basin, and placed his hand into the pool of ice-cold liquid.

She riffled through the first-aid kit she had stashed in a bathroom cupboard, and pulled out a roll of cotton bandages and some burn cream that was supposed to have a built-in painkiller.

_She had to give him a painkiller because of something she did to him._ The thought made her breathe in a slightly ragged breath, and she had to remind herself to focus. Yahiko wasn't crying, so neither could she.

She held herself together long enough to gently dry and bandage his injury, unable to make eye contact with the silent child.

"Why don't you go lay down in your room and rest and I'll bring you some ice cream, ok?", She offered, hoping she didn't look as close to breaking down as she felt.

He quietly nodded and left the room. A soft click from the end of the hall signified his door closing, at which point she burst into tears.

She sat on the kitchen floor next to a crumpled towel, and quietly wept, hating herself for her weakness. She was bullheaded and stubborn, trying desperately to prove herself in the kitchen when she was out of her league. She was neglectful, yelling at Yahiko and putting him into a dangerous position because of her ineptitude. She was cowardly, sending him to his room like he was grounded, simply because she had no idea how to handle the situation. She was selfish, sitting on the bathroom floor feeling sorry for herself and crying because she was alone.

She heard a small shuffling sound in the hallway, causing her to stand up and dry her eyes. She did not want Yahiko to see her in her current state of self-pity and self-loathing. Taking several calming breaths, she walked out into the hallway ready to explain, apologize, and repent, but there was no one in the hallway and his door was still shut.

She quietly went to his door and listened. She thought she heard the faintest sniffle, and closed her eyes, guilt returning at full force.

She knocked gently, and slowly opened the door.

If Yahiko had been crying she would never have known it. He was sitting on the bed, facing the door, arms across his chest, very matter-of-factly.

"Hey. Where's the ice cream?", he said, gruffly.

"... Oh. Sorry. I forgot it. I'll get it in a minute, ok?"

He looked at her and shrugged, "Sure. Burn the orphan and then let him starve."

Stunned, she made a few incredulous noises before he cut her off.

"Geez, I'm just kidding. Get over it already."

"Yahiko..." she faltered.

"I know it was an accident. I'm fine. Now stop trying to apologize. I like it better when you yell at me."

"...Thanks?"

"Oh, and Kaoru? Never. Cook. Again. "

She gave a quick, breathy laugh and looked down at the floor.

He was fine.

-o0-0o-

Feeling relieved, she ousted Yahiko from his room, with the promise of takeout food with an ice-cream chaser. It never ceased to amaze her how easily he forgave those who fed him; However, she was wrenched from her musings by the smell of bacon.

_Oh no. No no no..._

Yahiko and Kaoru looked at each other, twin looks of terror, as they raced down the hall toward the kitchen. Arriving at the doorway, Kaoru slid herself in front of Yahiko in an attempt to shield him from the seemingly unending misfortunes caused by her breakfast of horrors, but froze directly.

The block of funny white cheese had been sliced and arranged neatly on a small plate. Sweet-smelling steam was rising from the teapot she had prepared, three clean cups placed on the counter beside it. The remainders of the cookies she had placed on the living room table, set out in a small bowl beside three sets of clean dishes stacked on the counter, ready to be filled.

And a red headed man who was expertly cooking rice and frying the remainder of the bacon, humming to himself.

Yahiko pushed past Kaoru to witness the cozy kitchen scene before them. Shocked, he looked up at Kaoru who stood with her eyes wide and mouth gaping, obviously returning his sentiment.

Yahiko looked at Kaoru, gave a small smirk as said, "Can we keep him?"

**Try to hold on guys!**

**Next Chapter- Kenshin's POV, a few answers, and a few more questions...**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n** : Combined the first and second chapters, so hopefully no one was too alarmed by that, but I felt like I needed to get it done. Also: Lots of great comments and reviews... Thanks guys. I love checking back to see how people are or aren't following along. A story is no fun to tell if people are lost, confused, or just not enjoying it, so I definitely like hearing from you. I don't want to keep this story too cryptic, but I also don't want to give everything away right away, so I hope I'm doing well enough to keep you hanging on...

**Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and cast of characters are not mine. I have no intention of claiming them. Even if I did, no one would believe me.**

**Chapter 4: Strange Things**

"_The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream."_

**_―_**_Khalil Gibran__, '_**The Prophet**_'_

She sat beside him.

There was confusion and noise and cold and hunger, and then she sat beside him.

She sat on the floor with him, handed him tea and spoke to him in a calming voice. He didn't know what she was saying to him. He couldn't really focus. He had a ringing in his ears. He felt lightheaded. He wasn't well.

But whoever she was, she was very pleasant, and had a smile that warmed him entirely.

He was hurt. His hands and feet ached, and his skin felt burned. His face too. Had he burned them? He tried to remember fire, but couldn't. His eyes were dry and sore when open, and bright light appeared to hurt them. His throat was raw and the tea she gave him was soothing and very much needed. He felt like he had been beaten within an inch of his life.

He was confused. Nothing made any sense: He saw flashes of cold snow, but wasn't it was summer? There were flashes of bright glowing words beside buildings, but no flame? There were large metal and glass vehicles moving, that made terrible noises and smelled worse, being directed by people sitting inside? There were too many images, but no real substance. Thinking hurt, so he actively avoided it.

He was exhausted, but restless. There was a quiet unease that weighed on him, threatening to break him, but he couldn't recall why. Again, flashes: A young woman, an old woman, a wordless melody...

He closed his eyes and clenched them tightly.

Maybe it would come back to him when he felt better. Maybe it would all make sense in the morning. And until then, he had quiet voices and warm tea.

He wasn't sure how much time he had passed, sitting on the floor, but a small noise pulled him out of some sort of trance, albeit only for a brief time.

She was sitting a few paces away from him, leaning up against a piece of furniture, lightly snoring. Well, not quite snoring, but there was definitely intent. Her steady breathing was strangely relaxing to him, as he felt the energy around them shift into a gentle rhythm.

She was a small woman, who had a warm face. Her eyes were closed tightly, angelically, and her loose black hair pooled over her shoulders and shone in the lamplight. He felt that she was quite pretty, in a reliable and honest kind of way. She had a solid, earthy feel that relaxed him, even now. He remembered her eyes. A deep, clear blue that reminded him of the ocean at night: majestic and wild. He remembered her looking down at him, soulfully, and reaching for him. He remembered her long dark hair whipping around them in the bitter wind. He remembered those eyes as if they had burned into his soul.

He shook his head.

_Great. So she had eyes. Way to notice things._

She looked so small and pale, and wholly exhausted. She had probably tried to stay awake to make him feel more at ease, and suffered as a result.

He sighed, noticing for the first time the distinct excess of fluffy cloth wrapped around him. _When did that happen?_

He peeled a large woolen blanket from his cloth cocoon, and softly tucked it around her. As she snuggled into its warmth, he sat back and looked at nothing in particular, wondering who she was.

-o0-0o-

There had been voices coming from the kitchen. The woman's and a child's. They were chatting freely and sounded happy, though it wasn't long before the boy had come and sat next to him, staring at him, awkwardly. Thankfully, his mind hadn't focused on the staring child for very long, since his mind wasn't focusing on_ anything_ for very long; however, he had felt a deep sense of relief once the boy left again. Or at least he did until the yelling started, followed by swift exits and silence.

Through overhearing pieces of earlier conversation he knew the boy's name was Yahiko. He looked preteen, maybe ten or so, and had black, messy hair and dark brown eyes that looked far too old for his age. Although once he had caught a glimmer of childlike amusement in the boy's eyes when he said something catty and the lady whacked him on the head.

He learned, in bits and pieces, that the woman's name was Kaoru, that she owned the house they were in, and that she was alone, except for the boy.

_And that she should never be let near a kitchen._

He sighed, looking at the burned meat remains in the wash basin.

Despite the her best efforts to destroy it, he had been able to scrounge the remaining strips of meat for their meal. Although he did have a bit of initial confusion at the machines surrounding him...

He wasn't sure how it would have happened, but he must have ended up in a western country, otherwise the woman was very rich which didn't appear to be the case. He had heard tell that the technology of the West was more advanced than that of Japan, but had he not seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed the rumours.

It didn't take very long for him to fall into a rhythm, despite the odd and unfamiliar tools. This cooking stove was ingenious. There was no open fire, but the flat metal base got very hot, very quickly, and was large enough to cook several things at once. Because of the lack of actual fire, there was no real smoke, no soot, and the utensils remained unblackened. There was also a very evenly distributed heat, allowing for more even cooking. He liked that very much.

There was a metal spigot over top of a large wash basin that continually poured water from somewhere. He peeked outside through a small window, but the snow masked any clues as to how this running water was possible. _ Maybe a gravity system of some sort? _Some fountains back home used such a system. A large handle appeared to turn the flow of water off and on. _ Huh. That's quite handy._

There was a machine on the table beside him that was somehow attached to the wall, several machines really... but this particular one heated water and then stopped without boiling over. Sometime during her kitchen ordeal, Kaoru must have turned it on and now there was enough hot water to fill the teapot she had prepared!

He still wasn't sure what the white box in the corner did, nor the shiny metal one with slots in the top... but he'd save those for another day.

He briefly wondered how, with all of this technology, Kaoru couldn't manage to save her meal. Ultimately he decided that she was very kind to bring him into her home and take care of him, so he could forgive any culinary indiscretions.

At some point he must have finished. The meat was on a plate set alongside three bowls of rice...

_He hadn't traveled far before dark clouds started gathering. He had planned on staying at an inn for the night since he had saved a bit of money, and the sky had been threatening him with ominous weather for the last 2 days. Thankfully, he stepped foot inside the inn just as the darkened sky unleashed its fury._

His head hurt.

_Wood, tile, and paper, it was a traditional building that had only a few tiny rooms, but he really didn't need much space. Just a bed, really. He'd be leaving after he slept anyway and didn't have much money, so this was likely a good thing. Rural areas like this cost very little in comparison to other areas, especially if they were run by small down-home families. Besides which, during his wanderings he had come to appreciate small and rural much more than large and flashy._

_Pleased that his price observations were correct, he secured a "room" from a round and cheerful man, as the man's wife gently directed him to a screened area with a futon that very nearly touched wall on each side, bowing to him and swiftly exiting._

It pounded, a dull ache overcoming his body.

_Oh well. It will certainly do to be out of the rain, He reminded himself as he surveyed the tiny room, removing his sword and resting himself on the futon. _

"_Until tomorrow..." He sleepily recalled from memory the words his mother used to say at bedtime, before he passed out entirely._

The boy named Yahiko and the lady named Kaoru were standing in front of him smiling, as he uncomfortably shifted his weight. They were saying something, but he missed it entirely. There was a pain in his stomach, and music... a lonely, familiar tune...

Now they were sitting at a western-style table, food in front of them. There appeared to be an animated conversation going on, but he only caught a few snippets. He was dead tired, and desperately needed to sleep, but the woman looked so happy to be sharing this time with them and he didn't want to take that away from her. He looked down at his food... Had he eaten anything?

_When he awoke the next morning, he headed down the hall to once again greet the cheery man and his wife and thank them for their hospitality, but when he stepped into the main room where they had been the night before there was no sign of either of them. Sitting at the man's desk was a small, old man with a grim face. He radiated **go away** from every pore in his body._

_Not being one to be easily intimidated, the wanderer addressed the old man, bowing as he did so._

Where was the breakfast table? He was sitting..._ laying?..._ on the floor. Suddenly feeling a crushing weight, he had collapsed, a loud buzzing in his ears, a wrenching ache and anguished sounds.

Blackness.

-o0-0o-

"_This one will be leaving now. Please thank my kind hosts when you see them next."_

_The old man glowered at the small redhead in front of him, looking for a hint of sarcasm or deception, but found none._

"_What are you talking about, boy?" He barked._

"_The man and his wife that were here last night.", The wandered replied, "The owners."_

_The old man scoffed._

"_I am the owner. Always have been."_

"_This one apologizes... I must have misread the situation. Your staff is very kind indeed.", he smiled innocently._

"_...And you say you stayed the night?"_

"_Yes sir."_

"_And you slept in one of my rooms?_

"_Yes sir", he smiled again._

"_And you paid me for that hospitality?", the old man had begun to stand, obviously ramping up to some sort of point._

"_...Yes sir?", the wanderer replied, starting to feel a bit like a frog in hot water._

"_Then explain to me how last night you got to that room", He pointed, "without me seeing?"_

"_Oro?" The wander looked confused. Incredibly confused._

" _I have no staff. I was here all night long. Always am. And you...", He continued to bellow and point directly at the miniscule redhead in front of him, "...owe me payment for last night, you little moocher!"_

"_..."_

_Wide-eyed and utterly confused, the wanderer left a very cranky old man with the remainder of his purse. _

_Once back on the road through the sleepy town, lost in thought, he paused before reacting to a child that suddenly stopped in front of him, staring, mouth agape._

"_Is everything ok, little one?", he tentatively asked the small boy, surprised at his unexpected appearance._

_The boy scrunched his face, examining the red-haired man in shabby clothing that stood before him._

_He did not reply._

_The man looked around, to see if there was any reason that the child may be in trouble, and therefore acting strangely to grab his attention, but found nothing. Although he didn't sense anyone else nearby, he felt a definite sense of danger emanating from someplace that he couldn't quite pin-point. _

"_Can this one offer you any assistance?", he tried again._

_The boy blinked once and looked up at him._

"_No. Why?" he asked, confused._

_The man looked around once more, before responding._

"_This one was just checking, that I was. You seemed a bit out of sorts. Are you sure you are ok?"_

_The boy simply turned awkwardly around, staring at the man in a fashion that made the wanderer feel like he was somehow intruding or harassing._

_Well that was certainly odd, He thought to himself, continuing on, deciding to swiftly leave the perplexing and strangely creepy village._

-o0-0o-

_He walked aimlessly, his red hair blowing in the strengthening breeze, stopping briefly at a shop to try to barter a small lunch he could eat while on the road between rural villages. The aromas wafting from the homey building with a common clay tiled roof smelled delicious and inviting, making him unable to simply pass by. The people here had been nice for the most part, despite his appearance which he was sure was atrocious. He knew his once-bright gi and white hakama were a bit dusty from his trek, and he had tried to keep them as clean as possible, but most of the time he found himself sleeping outdoors and unable to find a way to properly do his laundry. One or two of the people he had come across had acted a bit strangely, and the old women all seemed to very much enjoy their gossip, but really that could be said for any place he had visited in the ten years he had been journeying through Japan. _

_In ten years he had seen a lot, both good and bad. He had seen power-hungry madmen and homeless children, upstanding citizens and happy families. He had seen sunny days, rainy days, and beautiful sunsets on a vast, rocky ocean shore. He had seen hunger, fear, love and hate. He had experienced shame, laughter, great conversation, and crushing isolation. He had, however, not experienced tranquility. _

_Never that._

_It weighed heavily on his heart and soul. It seemed to him that everywhere he turned he was met with ghosts of the past. His past. The past in which he had carved a new world with the blood of hundreds of men, and the tears of their loved ones. _

_These ghosts were with him in the light of day when he saw happy families laughing together, wondering what happened to the families of the men he had killed. They were with him in the dead of night, when his dreams flashed back to every solitary night he spent hunting them, waiting for the moment to strike. _

_They were the reason he could never rest. They were the reason he could never stop, never relent. He may have helped create a better world, but in the process had created one in which he could never live. _

_So he took this time, his ridiculous life, and gave it back to them as often as possible. Constantly if necessary, happily. It was the least he could do. If nothing else, he would preserve the world that caused the sacrifice of so many. He would honour them in his own unfortunate way, these ghosts in front of him._

_After several hours, he came upon another small village, nestled in a grassy valley. Pausing momentarily to see if he could sense anything odd from this village, fearing a repeat adventure of the night before, but feeling nothing unusual, he shrugged off his concern as simple paranoia. After all, it was late last night and he was tired. He had obviously been the unwitting victim of a con artist. Shaking his head at the thought of those nice people being anything less than sincere, he sighed and headed straight into the town to look around a bit._

_And that was when he saw it._

_Just inside the market center sat a small table-stall, being taken care of by a friendly man with a round cheery face, and his wife._

_Blood rushing to his face, he veered straight toward the criminals, ready to confront them lest they deceive anyone else, but stopped short when the woman looked up and smiled._

"_Mr. Himura! You're back!"_

_The red haired man froze. He was certain he had never been inside this village, and he was sure he didn't tell either of these people his name._

_Absolutely sure._

_Who are these people? What game are they trying to play? Confused and annoyed he continued his determined pace, stopping directly in front of the strange couple._

_The man smiled at him, and bowing a few times, asked why he had returned so soon._

_To which he received an intimidating stare that the wanderer secretly hoped would make the guilty man admit his ruse, apologize profusely, pay back the stolen money, and instantly give up his life of crime._

_The man stopped for a moment and innocently asked, "Is everything ok, Mr. Himura?", as his wife looked on with concern._

"_Who are you?" The wanderer asked very directly, tension apparent._

"_...What do you mean?", the man asked, looking genuinely confused._

"_Why were you at the Inn last night? Why did you rent me a room in a place that wasn't yours?", the wanderer continued his interrogation._

"_Inn? What Inn?", the plump man blinked, "We are merchants. Not innkeepers... Why would we have rented you a room?", the man had begun to look at the wanderer the way one regards a crazy person, with mild apprehension and forced calm._

"_We only just met you this morning, sir...Is there something wrong with your purchase?", his wife ventured, equally concerned._

_The small redhead moved his glare from the round-faced man to his wife, scrutinizing her words for sarcasm or deceit. He found none. Both of their energies were harmonious and gentle. These people were not lying._

"_This one did not mean to be rude. This one is sorry to have bothered you." The wanderer gave a small, apologetic smile, backing away a few steps. He had been very tired... But he had to admit it was a pretty hard thing to have hallucinated. Maybe his nomadic lifestyle was finally taking its toll on his sanity..._

_The couple glanced at each other in some sort of unspoken language between husband and wife, before the woman moved to him, cupping his hand in hers. She smiled brightly, warmly, and placed in his hand a small object._

"_Give this to your son when you get home, and please be safe."_

_Son? _

_He knew he wasn't **that** tired. Why did he feel like he was the only one who had no idea what was going on?_

_There he stood, utterly uncomprehending, and examined the object. It was a small wooden top, like the others set on display on the man's table. It was painted red with a few scraggly lines in various colours. It was rudimentary but strangely comforting, and reminiscent of something..._

_He wasn't sure of what. A faded memory, like looking through fogged glass._

_Oh well. Must not be that important, he sighed. _

_He thanked them, bowed, awkwardly exited, and remained wholly confused. He only briefly paused when he overheard the woman voice her quiet concern for the wanderer's well being. He knew she was questioning his sanity. So was he._

**Again, Thanks for all of the great comments!**

Skenshingumi: Lol. If I had properly combined my first 2 or 3 chapters we would have gotten to know Kenshin a bit better by now. My fault entirely. I'm gonna rack it up to inexperience...

As for the question of reincarnation/time travel, I really can't give it away, but let's go with "not really?" I promise it will come up eventually, but there's more that needs to come first.

Kokoronagomu: Thanks for the enthusiastic welcome! I appreciate it. Have to admit that I'm still surprised (but excited) that people are reading this. The kitchen scene was so much fun to write. And sadly reminiscent of my early experiences...

Scarred Sword Heart: Yes. Yes it does. :P

KaOrU HiMuRa24: Although I'm not sure of the length of this story, I will finish it. Not sure how quickly or easily, since I'm starting my 4th year of school (and then studying for national exams), as well as selling my house and dealing with random and transient sickness... but I will finish it. You keep reading, and I'll keep writing.

UrmixMoonstone: Seriously. So much fun. I also love most of Yahiko's lines... He's so much fun.

Compucles: Good eye! The question becomes 'How long was Kenshin really watching for?' as I tend to leave parts a bit vague. We all know he's a smart cookie and is definitely (as you say) a house husband so I don't think that using a hot-plate with a temperature knob would be super difficult for him, considering he would be used to an open fire that likely required much more skill. As for Kaoru, I have always felt that her issues with cooking would involve her having poor focus or timing because, let's face it, we're not good at everything. I know how horrible our first thanksgiving dinner was due to my inability to watch and time multiple things... granted not as badly as her... Also, the cast iron pan catching fire actually happened to my best friend. Heat was off, pan was empty and the damn thing went up in flames while breakfast was being served. Actually set the curtains on fire. :S

And thanks for the review. Keep me honest, and keep me thinking. :)

Resha Tsubaki, Winslow'sPhoenix,Lavixie,Silver-Firelizard, sirenmergirl, Taishou, Jasmine blossom625 :Thanks guys! I appreciate it!

Lita: Lol Thank you. I'm trying not to be too campy about the Christmas thing, but I was honestly trying to decide how I would get through the majority of this story with Kaoru believably not working. She's off for a week and a bit on holidays. Simple enough! Also, finding him in his condition was far more dramatic with the cold being a bigger threat. _Raise the stakes_, as my old playwriting teacher used to say...

**Have already started the next chapter as I post this so hopefully it won't be too long, that being said: Life. So, yeah. Please keep reviewing. It makes me feel special.**


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys, I hope I didn't confuse everyone too much with my chapter re-vamp. If you stuck with me, thank you! For those of you who were utterly confused, I amalgamated chapters 1 and 2, thus making the latest chapter #4 ( though for those of you who have been following it, it was basically chapter 5)... Once again, apologies.

**Disclaimer: The characters and their past stories are not my property. They are the creative children of someone far more interesting than myself. Also, I have no money so it's really not worth your while to sue. ** **But if you'd like it, I have more than enough debt to share.**

**Chapter 5: Tiny Strands**

"_The past is never dead. It's not even past."_

_―William Faulkner, 'Requiem for a Nun'_

Kaoru smiled at him from across the well stocked table. This was nice. _He_ was nice. And she was right: _ He __**was**__ gentle_, she thought as he patiently listened to her and Yahiko chat back and forth. He still hadn't said anything, but that was to be expected. She could tell how tired he was, and he was still recovering from god-knows-what, so she didn't want to push him. She hoped that he would be well enough to share what had happened to him soon, otherwise the suspense would quite possibly kill her.

_Was he homeless? Did he live nearby? Had he been kidnapped? Why was he beaten? Who did it to him? Was there anyone she could contact for him? Friends? Family?_

She sighed, more aloud than she would have liked. She wanted to help him so badly, to know what had hurt him in such a terrible way. She wanted him to know that she would help in any way she could. She wanted him to know that she understood, no matter what the circumstances...

But seriously, she had to stop obsessing. He would tell her all when he became ready, and the last thing he needed was for her to attack him with her questions.

All the same she was very surprised, delighted really, that he was already up and about. In a space of less than a day he had gone from nearly frozen and catatonic to making and sharing breakfast with her and Yahiko, and although he was still distant, she was incredibly pleased that he was doing so well.

However, it wasn't long before she realized that he had stopped eating, and was staring confusedly at his bowl. He winced, briefly, causing her to halt her conversation with Yahiko.

"Are you alright?", She asked him, concerned.

Yahiko turned to look at the man, who was staring at the table below him with a stunned look on his face. The man winced again, releasing his chopsticks. They fell to the table with a sharp clatter.

"Sir?", Kaoru tried again, starting to stand and move toward him.

This was not good. Something was terribly wrong.

The man stood up, fumbling with his chair, and tripped sideways, barely catching himself on unsteady feet.

Kaoru darted to the other side of the table just in time for the man to falter once more. She barely broke his fall, helping him down to the floor, where he curled up in the fetal position and held his head, breathing as though his chest was going to burst.

_Oh Gods, this is not good, _She thought.

"What's happening? Tell me what's wrong?", She asked, alarmed, but trying to remain calm.

When she received no response, she got down on the floor with him, reached out a hand and pushed his hair away from his face, her fingers tangling in a few moistened strands around his hairline.

"Can you hear me? Tell me. Please tell me.", She was trying desperately not to plead as she didn't want to further frighten him or Yahiko, who was now standing over them. The boy was saying something to her, but she was mostly unaware of anything outside of this stranger's pain, her own panic rising. Quietly she cursed her emotions and, kneeling closer to him, placed her hand on his face, stroking it across his cheek, as she continued asking him in an intentionally steadied voice.

He was burning up. Why had she not realized how red his face had gotten sooner?

"Yahiko, Grab the phone and call 119."

This had gotten out of hand. She needed to get him to a doctor, and quickly.

"Right!"

Yahiko ran to the other room, as she lay on the floor with the man in agony, rubbing his back in an attempt to soothe him. Whether he knew what was happening or not she had no idea, as he was once again completely unresponsive.

It seemed like an eternity before medical help arrived, packed him on a stretcher, and loaded him into the large red and white ambulance, and another eternity as they raced through the snowy city to their destination.

-o0-0o-

"_Sir? Sir? Are you alright?"_

_The wanderer raised his head and looked up at the woman who stood over him. She appeared to be asking him... something?_

"_Are you alright?", she repeated, as a teenaged boy helped pull the red head to a standing position._

"_Uh. Yes. This one must have fallen? My apologies, Miss.", he squinted at the hot sun and brushed the dust off of himself, smiling self-effacively._

_The woman returned his smile, nodding and motioning to her son to follow as she left._

_He would have to be more careful. Tripping? Seriously? _

_He figured that he must have been obsessing over the last few days, once again. Since his run in with the Innkeeper there had been 3 more instances of people who welcomed him warmly, claiming they had met, and in some cases claiming they had gone to school together or worked together..._

_And all of them knew his name._

_And two of them called him 'Shinta', a name he hadn't used in over twenty years._

_A name that only one other living person knew he once carried._

_What was happening to him..._

-o0-0o-

Kaoru shivered in the icy-clinical hospital room. Everything was so white. White walls. White ceiling. White curtains. White bedsheets. The only splash of colour was the bright red hair of the small, sleeping man.

Just as he had when she first found him, he looked so small and pale surrounded by all that white. It reminded her of a funeral in a way, and she tried desperately not to allow her mind to go to a dark place, despite the various tubes connecting him to machines and the unsettling noises that accompanied them.

_Oh stop it. He'll be fine, _She chastised herself, as she tried desperately to blend in to the creepy sterility, but to no avail.

It seemed that at every turn she was in the way. She hadn't brought him in when she had found him. She was not family and therefore should not be in his room. She didn't even know his name. There was no end to the pointed questions that were being asked of her by the snippy intern that admitted him, and anytime the judgmental you-know-what was in the room Kaoru was constantly asked to 'move back', 'get out of the chair', or 'wait in the hallway'.

She seriously considered punching that holier-than-thou shrew of an intern if she didn't stop with the harassment.

Although that likely wouldn't help her case much.

She felt especially bad when she explained to the intern that she had been taking care of the man and received a particularly derisive comment about his current state of undress and overall appearance. He was still in her father's robe, which caused a mad blush to overtake her when she was asked if he was her lover, and she never did get around to helping him with his badly tangled hair.

Sighing, she silently accused herself of being a terrible caregiver before excusing herself from the sleeping man's room, returning shortly with a small comb she purchased from a shop inside the hospital.

It would not be very easy to tame the wild red tangles with just a small comb, but it appeared that she had all of the time in the world, so she began separating sections and working gently on the messy knots in his silken hair. It really was quite beautiful, the red, and upon further inspection she decided that it wasn't dyed as she had originally considered. It was too even and his eyebrows and roots matched the rest of it. That being said, she hadn't heard of a Japanese native with naturally red hair. Or violet eyes. Or Sapphire blue ones...

Touche.

_I guess we're both just a little different, aren't we..._

It wasn't long before the doctor came in, disrupting her thoughts as well as her comb's steady movement. He was an older man, close to retirement she imagined, and had a friendly manner about him. He smiled at her and, clipboard in hand, made his way over to her to apparently have a discussion.

She stood to greet him, as he began to speak.

"Well, he appears to have no secondary injuries. There are no broken bones or other lacerations, and there is no internal bleeding or swelling from whatever gave him those bruises, which is positive. He is showing some signs of infection so we put him on antibiotics just to be safe, but his blood test shows nothing abnormal so I think we can safely rule out any major issues."

"So he's okay then?", Kaoru asked, needing some assurance.

"He does have a high fever, but it appears to be settling down. My only concern at this stage would be the development of pneumonia. But we'll be keeping a close eye on him, so don't worry.", the kind-faced doctor explained, squeezing her hand briefly before turning and finishing his thought, "Megumi will see to it that he's kept safe and sound."

_Great._

"Speaking of broken bones and lacerations...", Kaoru mumbled under her breath, realizing too late that the doctor had overheard her.

His eyes had a mischievous glint to them.

"Ah. So you two have already met, then."

Kaoru, embarrassed, averted her gaze to a particularly interesting floor tile. _Yay. White..._

-o0-0o-

_It had been a week since his last encounter with any person who claimed to know him, yet he couldn't shake the eerie feeling that had settled into his mind and soul. Claiming they knew him with some elaborate story could have easily been some sort of misunderstanding. They could have mistaken him for another man who had traveled that way before. He tried desperately to ignore the fact that he had long, obviously bright red hair, which was incredibly rare. He tried to come up with logical reasons for their oversight: This person left while still very young; This person stayed very well concealed; These people have terrible eyesight..._

_He tried._

_But a few of them had called him "Shinta", and there way no denying that the odds were decidedly against him and his "logic". _

_And there was this dreadful feeling. This tiring despair that seemed to float around him like a cursed aura, sucking the calm and peace from everything. Even a few of the people he met on his voyages stared at him with suspicion, appearing to have drastic mood-changes once he had entered their ten or twenty foot radius._

_During his contemplations he reached a shop where he prepared to buy some lunch, but was interrupted when the door to the shop abruptly slammed shut in his face. Startled, he took a step backward and turning his head toward the open window, he saw the shopkeeper watching him intently. He had a very strong feeling this man, in not so many words, was telling him to move on._

_He smiled gently and bowed slightly, apologetically, before turning around. Was it his sword? Was it his shabby appearance? He had been met with hostility before, but never quite so overtly, and honestly it kind of hurt his feelings._

"_What does he think I'm going to do...?" , he muttered, walking away with a sigh._

_Heading down a small alley, he attempted to search for a person who wasn't eying him with terrible suspicion, with no luck._

_At this stage he became genuinely afraid that he was in fact losing his mind. Thinking an entire village was conspiring against him was certainly not something a rational person experienced._

"_I'm sure you are wondering what is happening to you, Mr. Himura."_

_He wheeled around, hand reaching to the hilt of his sword, to see a young woman stepping out of a darkened doorway. Her long dark hair was tied at the nape of her neck with a thin red ribbon, and she wore the traditional red and white clothing of the temple Mikos that he had seen many times during his travels throughout the country._

_Unsure how to respond he opted for cold silence and a penetrating glare, his hand remaining on his sword hilt._

_She smiled, raising an eyebrow._

"_We both know you are not going to kill an unarmed priestess.", and holding his gaze, she entered the doorway._

_The man paused for a moment, before following her into a small room. Lit with candles along the perimeter, it was a traditional sitting room with a tatami mat-covered floor, a shrine on one wall, and a small table with two cushions. A tea set with two cups sat in the middle of the table and the aroma of the tea, mixed with the shrine's smoky incense, worked wonders in calming his mind and relaxing his muscles._

"_Please, sit with me."_

_She made her way over to the table, seated herself on one of the cushions, and poured two cups of tea. The steam curled and danced above the cups, hypnotically._

_He sat on the opposing cushion, relaxing but apprehensive._

"_Who are you?", he asked, unable to contain his impatience any longer._

"_My name is Ima. I am an acolyte to The Weaver."_

"_How do you know me?"_

_She smiled._

"_The Weaver showed my your Lifethread."_

_His brow furrowed. He had never heard of this "Weaver" the Miko spoke of._

"_Who is The Weaver?"_

_He knew he was being terse and impolite but could not help himself. It had been a very trying several weeks and he just didn't have any reserve politeness to give. Although the dread feeling that had been clinging to him had dissipated upon his entrance, he still felt unbalanced, "off" in some way._

_The Miko took a sip of her tea and smiled._

"_That may take a bit of time to explain."_

-o0-0o-

Kaoru had worked her way through most of the more stubborn knots in his hair and, feeling a smidgeon of proud accomplishment, she ran her hands through the soft strands. It was odd how such a mundane and innocent task felt so intimate.

He really was handsome, beautiful really. A bit softer looking than most of the men she had met in her lifetime, but his features had a sort of gentle grace that she found very appealing. The two large cuts on his cheek, that made a perfect cross, looked old and harsh and stood in stark contrast to his other features. She really didn't mind the scar. In fact, although some would see it as an imperfection, she felt it added a sense of honesty to him. To her, it made him all the more handsome.

She couldn't explain, much as she tried, the way she felt drawn to him... but she seemed okay with the concept so why question it further. Trailing off in her thoughts, she wondered what it would be like to softly kiss him on those gentle lips...

She was, however, in a very unsexy hospital.

And he was comatose.

_So that's creepy_, she thought, sighing and rubbing her hands across her face.

-o0-0o-

_He waited as she took another sip of tea._

"_Time is a very tricky thing, Mr. Himura. Every person you meet and every person they meet, every place you've been, becomes connected until, like fine strands in an expansive cloth, they are unable to be separated. Over time, the lives of each of us are so entwined that pulling or shifting even a single strand can and will damage that cloth, destroying those connections and damaging the fabric irrevocably."_

_She paused, placing her tea cup on the table, and looked up at him._

"_The timeline has been disrupted."_

**Hopefully you guys can forgive me for writing a smaller chapter, but this is the best breaking point for the upcoming stuff... so hopefully there won't be much suffering involved.**

**Thank you for the reviews. I get all excited like a 5 year old when I see that someone's posted. It's kind of pathetic, but it's the little things I enjoy... **

J Luc Pitard** – **I've always like the "odd couple" and the "fish out of water" themes... maybe because I find awkward humour fantastic in every conceivable way... And playing with time is extremely fun. Glad you're enjoying it.

Allemagne – House husband Kenshin is probably my favourite Kenshin. Always makes me smile... As for Kaoru, I'm going to put her in a few more situations that will allow her to show off some of her other personality quirks before she becomes one-dimensional.

Izwick, A Midsummer, emi takei – Thank you so much. I'm truly and genuinely glad you like it. And I hope you are "fun" confused and not "what the hell/screw this" confused...


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys. Thanks for all of the awesome reviews. You guys totally make my day. I don't even want to admit to how often I check to see what people have written. Which now that I think about it is kinda sad... Lol.

**There was a review in which concern was voiced about the possible occult-y or supernatural nature and a fear that this fic would turn into something along those lines...** And yes, there is a lot of that in this chapter, but it will not become the main theme/event of this story. Really by making this a time-travel induced story I had to go either sci-fi, supernatural or 'it's all a big dream' in order to explain it... all of which I kinda hate so I picked what I did. Like I said, it's explanation, but it will not be the main event. So please bear with it!

**Disclaimer: The cast of Rurouni Kenshin and their cannon stories are not mine, never were, and likely will never be, unless I make my millions in floral design or acrobatics. And I won't. Trust me. **

**Chapter 6: Oddities**

"_There is no present or future-only the past, happening over and over again-now."_

_―__Eugene O'Neill__, __A Moon for the Misbegotten_

"_Why are you telling me this?", The red-haired man asked of his hostess, warily gauging her response._

"_Because it is your strand that has been pulled."_

_She took another sip of tea, acting as though they were having a light conversation about the weather._

_Sensing his skepticism, she continued._

"_In the last week or so, how many strangers have you come across that acted as though they knew you?" _

_He narrowed his eyes and continued to listen to her, expectantly._

"_It was because they did."_

_Pursing his lips, he tried very had not to scoff._

"_How many people have reacted harshly to you, abrasively?" _

_He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off._

"_Because you are not supposed to be here."_

_Taking a cleansing breath, he looked down at his tea. It sat on the table untouched._

"_You've even sensed that there was something wrong. Something indescribable and deep."_

"_...Because there is.", he slowly finished her sentence._

_She gently bowed her head in response. He let out a breath, trying to decide if this woman was as insane as he himself felt. Why did he sense that she was telling the truth? How could this possibly be?_

_He took a collecting breath, eyes closed, before speaking again._

"_This one should apologize for poor manners. This one didn't mean to have such a harsh demeanor, however you must understand how this all sounds..."_

_She placed her cup on the table and let out a soft sigh, smiling._

"_I understand. I do. This is a lot to take in and I'm sure you have many questions, and I will be happy to answer them if I can. That being said, we are on a bit of a schedule."_

_The young woman stood and motioned for him to do the same._

"_I will explain on the way.", she said, extinguishing the candles around the room._

_The small man stood, confused and suspicious, but followed her as she left the building. She closed the door tightly, and locked it._

"_Where are we going?", he asked her as she returned the key to her obi._

_She looked up at him and gave him a pleasant smile. _

"_We are going to see The Weaver."_

-o0-0o-

_The sense of peace that he experienced within the building, dissipated very quickly once outside. It felt like a giant weight had been placed upon the duo as they walked briskly through side roads and alleyways. Occasionally they would pass a person, but the man found himself hoping that the population was very low in this part of town, as everyone he met seemed angered by his existence. Strangers would stop whatever they were doing and glare, and occasionally as they got further and further from the building, people would start to follow, as if ready to cause trouble._

"_Why does this one get the feeling we should be leaving very quickly?"_

_The young Miko let out a breathy laugh. _

"_Because we should."_

_Turning her head to look non-nonchalantly behind them, she took note of several maddened townspeople glaring at the red haired man._

"_Don't make eye contact. Try to move quietly and quickly.", She instructed._

_He nodded, his right hand unconsciously moving toward his sword hilt._

"_Don't touch your sword. They'll interpret that as an attack."_

_Against his better judgment, he lowered his hand and picked up speed._

"_I don't understand what has gotten into all of these people...", he muttered to her, hoping she could shed some further light._

_She complied._

"_You have been removed from time, somewhat. Leaving time to move strangely around you. This has always been a very spiritual area and the people here, aware or not, have a sense for the unnatural."_

"_Well it is quite unnerving, that it is.", he agreed._

"_As it is to them. They aren't bad people, Mr. Himura. They just don't trust you. To them you appear shifty and dangerous. They feel threatened."_

"_...And threatened people attack."_

"_Exactly. So let's keep moving, shall we?"_

_The red-head nodded, picking up speed._

_It wasn't long before they reached the edge of the town. Looking over his shoulder, the wanderer watched as the small group that had been following them slowed, then stopped, and finally turned back toward the town. He released a breath, happy that their situation hadn't come to blows. It's true that with his skills in battle they would be no match for him, but inevitably innocent people would have been hurt. That was something he actively avoided. _

_They slowed their pace and he began to enjoy the scenery... sort of. There was still the heavy feeling that clouded around him, the miasma that frenzied those people into wanting to attack him just to make it go away. It weighed on him, slowed him, drained him emotionally. _

_Or maybe it was the running away from semi-murderous townsfolk._

_He debated about whether he'd sleep well or poorly tonight..._

"_Almost there.", the Miko spoke as they wound their way through the trees and toward a small clearing._

"_This one is starting to get the feeling you are leading us into a trap of some sort...", the man quietly stated, more to himself than to his guide._

"_Oh shush.", she retorted, "You big baby. If I wanted you dead, I would've left you in town."_

_He tilted his head to one side. True. Besides which, he really didn't get a bad feeling from her, nor did he sense anything malicious. If anything it was he who was causing upset in this picture, and the longer they walked, the more sour his mood became. However, just as upon entering the room when he first met the Miko, he felt the veil lift abruptly as they stepped onto the path that led into the clearing._

_Paper charms adorned tree boughs, flitting about in the light breeze, and the dappled sunlight that had surrounded them from inside the wooded area opened up, accentuating the clearing ahead. A small temple, garden, and covered meditation area were situated within the tree-lined grassy domain. Several young girls in clothing much like his guide dotted the scenery, some meditating, some gardening, some having quiet conversations. All in all, it was very serene in nature, and a welcome relief. They made their way toward the temple, as several of the young girls turned to watch them go inside._

_The inside of the temple appeared much larger than it had looked outside and was made of intricately carved dark wood and beautiful paper screens depicting nature. There were some fine silk paintings of the sun, the moon, and various star patterns, hanging within the open windows, casting small silhouettes of their shapes on the walls. Based on their placement and the angle of the light coming through the windows, he imagined that they moved within the room according to the light as it traveled across the sky._

_The wanderer stood in silent awe taking in every detail, as his guide shooed two of the youngsters away from the door and gently slid it shut. She sighed, and looked at him._

"_Can I get you anything? Some tea?"_

"_No thank you."_

"_You will need to eat or drink something. You have a bit of an adventure ahead of you. Actually, you have quite a** large** adventure ahead of you..."_

_He stared at the Miko, head shaking slightly from side to side, uncomprehending._

"_This one would simply like to know how to stop the strange things that have been happening."_

"_Hence the adventure..."_

"_And what if this one decides against this adventure?"_

_The woman stopped, her lips tightening into a hard line._

"_I should explain further."_

_She looked at him, let out a breath, and continued._

"_Please, walk with me. The garden is beautiful this time of year."_

_The red-headed man complied, exiting through another smaller room inside the temple, and stepping foot into a fairly standard, albeit well maintained, traditional garden. Its lush greens highlighting the small splashes of coloured flowers and trees interspersed. They followed the sunken stone walkway, taking in the view as they spoke._

"_I know you are wondering why this is all happening to you."_

_The man nodded slightly, looking down at the path, as the lady continued._

"_We actually have no idea why this is happening to you. Only what. And what to do to fix it. That is in theory."_

"_In theory?", He looked up at her, scrutinizing her words._

_She smiled, releasing a breathy laugh, and nodded, "It's not like this happens everyday."_

_She continued, looking ahead._

"_I am an acolyte to The Weaver, of which you are already aware. The others here are servants as well. I am senior, hence my job as your guide. My duty is facilitator: Her hands, that is to say. I do what she requests."_

"_...And this Weaver...?"_

"_Is a lesser known goddess. She is weaver and protector of the timeline the Creator has set."_

"_Ah.", The man looked around quizzically, scratching his head. _

_Sure. Why not._

_This seemed like an awful lot of trouble to go to for a ruse, and there was an honest and comfortable sincerity in her words, but he was having trouble believing that: A) An actual goddess literally **spoke** to these women, B) Said goddess requested him specifically, and C) **Nobody had ever heard of any of this before**. That being said, how many people could comfortable say to someone that there was a temple in the woods that housed an actual goddess that forged Time, without being sent to a crazy house._

"_Please, sit.", She spoke gently, interrupting his thoughts, and leading then toward a small sitting area._

"_So this Weaver speaks to you."_

"_Not in words, but yes. I can hear her quite clearly."_

"_Ah.", he looked down at his hands. During the Bakumatsu, on nights when he was very lonely, he was certain he had heard a voice or two. Once or twice during his darkest days, they may have even had a conversation, but that was his imagination and emotional exhaustion. It was nothing mythical or magical. It was a very tired, very hurt boy talking to himself._

"_Would you like to meet her, Mr. Himura?", she cocked her head to better look at him, as he continued to stare at his hands and the stonework below their feet._

_He let out a sigh._

"_I'm sorry, but this is insane.", He stopped himself, "That is to say... this one is having difficulty with this concept..."_

_The Miko chuckled for a moment, knowingly. She nodded, standing, and offered him her hand._

"_So let's go meet her."_

_-o0-0o-_

_This ought to be interesting, he thought to himself, as they approached a small shrine. _

_The shrine was old and weathered, but sturdy and clean enough. It was nothing fancy or seemingly special in any way, the only exception was a nearly hypnotic rhythmic sound that emanated from within. _

_The sound gave the small man goosebumps._

_...Or that was just the light breeze that had followed them. _

_He took a composing breath, chastising himself for getting pulled into whatever delusion these women were currently suffering. Granted, he believed in many things, and didn't feel a specific need to prove or disprove the existence of the deities, but in all of his experiences he had yet to be able to put his finger on a moment in time and say 'There it is. The gods willed it.' over anything. It wasn't that he disbelieved, but he wasn't sure he wanted to believe. Although he liked the concept of other-worldly forces helping others through life, the idea that he may have been watched and judged during those dark nights when he filled the streets with blood, saddened him so very completely._

_The rhythmic sound continued louder and louder as they approached, until, finally, they reached the shrine's open doorway. More paper charms adorned the top of the large doorway, and a small amount of sunlight peeked through the latticework windows, casting small glowing squares on the floor and walls inside._

_There was an eerie stillness. Not malevolent, but a feeling of separation from reality. It was as though this one place touched all places at once. Places that currently existed, places that previously existed... Surprisingly unsure, he began to step forward. The Miko, watching carefully, allowed it without comment._

_He stepped out of his sandals and bowed in respect, eliciting a small smile of approval from the Miko, and stepped inside, the lady following behind._

"_That sound is the Weaver using her loom. On it, she weaves the Lifethreads into one fabric, connecting us all."_

"_So she decides our fates?", he asked, rubbing his forehead with one hand._

"_Not exactly. She weaves, but the pattern is already created."_

_She headed toward the back, a darkened area and slid aside a paper door, revealing an old woman cast mostly in shadow sitting behind a rudimentary loom, the light from the room silhouetting her form. From his position in the room he could make out some features, but not many, although a more careful inspection when she turned her head for a brief moment revealed white opaque eyes. Was she blind? Taking absolutely no interest in the intruders, she continued to weave as she hummed a quiet, repeating melody. Shifting his eyes to the fabric that she was crafting, the man saw a vast array of colours and patterns. Supernatural or not, she was good at what she did._

"_Do you see your thread?"_

_He tried really hard not to scoff, turning it into a kind of exhalation instead._

"_My thread."_

"_Yes. Look carefully."_

"_How could anyone see a thread from here."_

"_Are you always this difficult? Just try."_

_From the doorway, the wanderer carefully eyed the fabric as best he could, from ten feet away and in the dark, until his eyes rested on a single red thread that seemed to shimmer in the tiny amount of light that existed. It was shimmering red, strong looking, but unlike the others in the cloth, it was connected in only one location, at the very far tip. It lay across the top of the fabric, and upon closer inspection he could see several small spaces along the expert weave. It felt to him, those spaces were made specifically for that one tiny thread._

"_Every so often, a piece gets pulled. Sometimes it just happens, and sometimes it's the result of tampering, but it's easily fixable.", The Miko said, her eyes upon the cloth, "The Weaver returns it to its proper place and the world spins on."_

_She moved her eyes toward the wanderer, and continued._

"_The Weaver has replaced your thread countless times. Every single time she replaces it, it shifts to another location. We have no idea why."_

_The small man looked at her, waiting._

"_When a thread gets pulled or moved, it isn't long before others become attached. The lives each of us touch become connected in very complex ways, very quickly. Removing a thread, even to reattach it in it's proper place, can create a vast amount of damage. The more threads that are connected, the worse the damage. That is why the Weaver has pulled your thread entirely, until it can be fixed."_

"_What does that mean?", he asked, eying the shining thread._

"_Nothing for now. You are... somewhat less restricted than others... I suppose that is to say: You can be moved."_

_He stared at her for a moment before speaking._

"_The 'adventure' to which you referred?"_

"_Precisely.", she nodded, smiling._

_The Miko moved closer to the door and slid it shut, bowing as she did so. She looked up at the wanderer and motioned for him to walk with her. Glancing back toward the door, he let himself be led by the young lady._

"_Yours is the only thread moving. Over and over again, no matter what we do. It's actually quite infuriating. But that isn't why I brought you here."_

_She paused, pulling her feet once again into her sandals. He followed her action._

"_This is personal. There is a force at work that is very specifically targeting you."_

"_Why me?"_

"_That's more for you to know than us, don't you think?", she responded, lifting one eyebrow._

_He sighed, plopping himself on the raised wooden step._

"_So this 'Force'..."_

"_We think it's a person. Someone with a gift."_

"_A gift.", lifting both hands to his head and rubbing, he exhaled in an annoyed fashion._

_She reached out and touched his shoulder._

"_The long and short of it is this: We think someone is playing with your Lifethread specifically, likely a person with a gift, but very inexperienced. The last maneuver originated from a different location in the fabric so we think that whoever is causing this disturbance may have gotten caught in their own back-draft. We need you to find this person and stop them before they cause anymore damage. Then the Weaver can restore the time-line and life goes on as it should."_

_The man held his hands over his face for a moment, before letting them drop to his sides once again. Sighing and shaking his head he asked in resignation, "So how do I find this person?"_

_The Miko smiled, something strange twinkling in her eyes. She looked toward the other girls that were milling around the various areas._

"_That's where everyone else comes in."_

_-o0-0o-_

_'We're going to send you to the disturbance', she had said._

_'It's easy!', she had said._

_It wasn't long before she admitted to him that she'd never actually done this before, and with that terrible twinkle in her eye, lit some horrible smelling incense, doused him in some kind of water, surrounded him with chanting, and told him to relax. _

_Relax. Sure._

_He met a creepy child, rented a room from people who didn't rent him a room, had a son that doesn't exist, got chased down in the street for being 'creepy', met a 'god'... _

_Replaying the week's events may not have been the best way for him to 'relax', he decided. On a scale of one to worst-day-ever, every day this week cracked at least an eight. And now he lay in a soggy puddle in the center of a circle of strange chanting women holding candles, one of whom told him to 'relax' and 'center himself'._

_He sighed, thinking how embarrassed he would be when absolutely nothing happened. What then? Should he get up, thank them for their time, and run for it? It would certainly beat an awkward meal and equally uncomfortable sleep over..._

"_Stop sighing.", The Miko huffed, "You are supposed to be meditating."_

"_This one is not sure he knows how to meditate..."_

"_Then just stop thinking and focus on your breathing."_

_He tried. He really did. But he found himself trying to figure out exactly how he had been roped into this... whatever this was. His teacher was right, though the red-head would deny to his deathbed ever admitting it: He was too easily led. This was living proof of his inability to say no when someone asked for help._

_Lost in his thoughts, the chanting seemed to flow into a gentle rhythm that lulled him into a sleepy state. Was he meditating? Happily dazed, he lifted bleary eyelids and peeked up at the... black room? When had it gotten dark? _

_Oh well, he thought to himself, before drowsily closing his eyes..._

_Instantly, blinding light shattered his sleepy state. A series of loud bangs that made his ears pop and hum followed by a trembling of the ground beneath him, startled him and he opened his eyes. Images flashed all around him, lights, shadows all melded together and swirled, making him incredibly dizzy._

_She had warned him that it might be 'a little jarring but hopefully not too unpleasant', which hadn't really made him too excited about the whole idea, but then again he didn't really think anything would happen in the first place._

_After the trembling came rumbling, and just when he thought he may be ill, it stopped, the only sound his own ragged breathing. He paused, a little afraid to open his eyes, before letting out a yell when every inch of his body met something hard and painful. With sharp pain stinging his skin, he began to shiver uncontrollably. Why was he so cold? _

_He opened his eyes, panting at the tingling in his extremities and heavy ache around his back and chest and was surprised to find that he was surrounded by snow. He was laying outside, surrounded by cold and white, wind swirling and howling around him. He tried to sit up, tried to pull himself out of the snowbank in which he appeared to be covered, but his arms would not obey and shook so violently he could barely lift himself more than an inch or two. _

_This was bad. His breathing was becoming erratic and he was feeling light headed. _

_He was so tired. Maybe he should sleep..._

-o0-0o-

He slowly opened his unfocused eyes to a vast amount of white. Strangely, he was no longer cold, but rather warm and cozy, and as his senses came back to him he realized that he was in a raised bed within a hushed room. There were faint sounds echoing in what he assumed to be a hallway beyond the door to his left, and a sharp pain in his hand, where he appeared to be connected to some sort of tube, which was quite disconcerting.

Another strange sensation... someone gently tugging on his hair. He felt the light scratch of a comb pass over his scalp, and the quiet muttering of a woman from behind him.

He recognized that voice. It was the woman who pulled him out of the snowbank. It was the woman who saved him.

He blocked out all else and listened to her quiet tirade. He smiled, drowsily, to himself as her tirade quickly became a list of horrible names she had created for a woman that she appeared to have met recently. A doctor or nurse it seemed?

She fell silent, continuing to methodically comb his hair, a sensation that relaxed him to his core. But not so completely that he didn't hear her begin to softly speak.

"I just wish I at least knew your name.", he heard her breathe a small sigh.

He turned his head a bit toward her, and she stopped at the gentle movement, her bright blue eyes meeting his gaze.

"It's Kenshin Himura."

Man, this one was a bit of a long one, but I didn't really want to cut it off anywhere else. Kinda thought you might all kill me for it...

As always, thank you for your comments/reviews/questions etc. Love 'em. :)

LadyIwashi: Not sure I know what a "proper" fanfic is, but I am incredibly delighted that you are enjoying this one. Like I mentioned above, with the exception of intro and exit (basic set up) I will not be relying on occulty-stuff. And mother-hen Kaoru is doing her thing because up to this point Kenshin's been hurt, but when he recovers we'll see a lot more of temper/courageous/randomly embarrassed Kaoru. :)

Resha Tsubaki: Ahh early morning reading. Hopefully this chapter will help with the confusion... a bit... also thank you.

Lita : I really appreciate your encouragement. You are very thoughtful and I hope I can live up to everyone's standards!

emi takei : I'm right there with you. Now that he's speaking, they can get to know each other. :)

Winslow'sPhoenix : Theoretically... evil laugh. Yeah, I'm not that mean.. :P Glad you're enjoying it.

A Midsummer : Lol. Well hopefully this one didn't fry your brain. If it makes you feel any better, the next one will be a little bit lighter and hopefully a lot of fun.

Xerez : Thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys spoil me, and I'm getting addicted... I've been reading a lot of fic as well and feel the same way. If you're going to tell a story, tell it. If I never update again, mourn for me. It'll be against my will.

kokoronagomu : Sorry about your technical difficulties, but I appreciate the feedback in whatever way it comes! I like the time travel stuff in as well (gee can you tell?), generally because I'm in love with awkward humour. I guess that's why I like getting into the characters thoughts as well. Nothing is funnier than the stuff you think but don't say...

Wow. That sounded kind of ominous...

J Luc Pitard: Agreed. I was only in the hospital for 3 days and that was enough for me. I'm sorry you were there for that long! I hope whatever it was that landed you there is better/gone?

ireadstuff , KaOrU HiMuRa24 , Alkyonides Meres , amie689: Thanks for encouraging me. We all need it, and I appreciate you taking the time!

Izwick : Glad to hear you are still following... hope you've made it through this one as well!

Scarred Sword Heart : He'll be up and running in no time. Well, maybe not "running" persay...

skenshingumi : I'll do my best to keep 'em coming!

**Thanks again and I'll do my best to get another one up fairly soon. My 4th year of school started this month and it's been all "online discussions" and practical assignments and tests every 28 days. Seriously. They have them purposely in 28 day intervals... Next one's in... 5 days so yay for studying...**

**Sigh.**

In the meantime, I'd love to hear your favorite part/parts, and why?... If you feel so inclined...Pop 'em into "review"!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: As always, you guys are fantastic and I appreciate anything and everything you have to say. There was a great comment from J Luc Pitard about some incongruity around the hospital stuff vs Kenshin's time and experience from his own time. I agree with you. I was tired. By the time I got the story out of my head I was just so happy I got it done and could post. I took out the part where he realizes it's a "hospital" because you are totally right, but left some of it just because he's literally been awake less than a minute and distracted by a stranger touching him. So wait for the freak out... It'll come...

And with that:

**Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin, it's characters, likenesses etc are not my personal property. I am simply enamored of them. Hence the writing. I have no intention of claiming them as mine. So be nice, lawyers.**

**Chapter 7: **

"_Inelegantly, and without my consent, time passed."_

_**―**__Miranda July__,__ 'No One Belongs Here More Than You'_

She sipped her tea from its horrid Styrofoam cup with an annoying little plastic lid, sighing. The light from the window beside Kenshin's cot was a bit blinding as it reflected off of the surrounding white walls and various metal objects in the very stark hospital room. She had pulled the sliding blinds open in an attempt to rouse the dozing man because, honestly, she was sleep deprived and bored to death. If she were in a better mood she might have considered her actions a bit mean, waking him up because she wasn't able go to sleep, but she wasn't in a better mood. So too bad. Also, the hospital sludge they called tea was not helping her attitude.

She now acknowledged that she may have been a bit hasty in her sleep-deprived state and was now suffering the consequences of her poorly thought out plan.

Kaoru shook her head at the dazed red-haired man laying in the clinic bed as he stared quizzically around the room, a mild smile playing across his features.

He was stoned.

"I don't like this thing in my hand, Miss Kaoru.", he stated, pulling his arm to the other side of the bed and wincing as he pulled too far. "It's hurting."

"Kenshin, I told you to stop pulling at it. You already made it bleed once."

"I do not understand why I am not allowed drink my own liquids.", he complained testily, poking at the hanging bag above him. She shot him a warning look that caused him to instantly return his hand to his lap, "I do not like it."

"Tough."

"Those doctors were kind of mean, don't you think?"

Kaoru shook her head and rubbed one hand across her forehead. _ They're only mean when you freak out and try to rip out your IV and they have to hold you down to sedate you_.

"They were mean.", he decided, rolling over to face her.

"You caused a scene. They were trying to make you feel better and you threw a fit."

"I... This one didn't throw a fit...", He trailed off, furrowing his brow at an unused heart monitor that sat in a corner of the room, "... This one was confused... they were doctors. These legs are numb...", he lamented, poking at his leg.

She took another sip of disappointing tea, feeling his eyes on her. She cocked an eyebrow and looked up at him much the way a teacher would regard an unruly student, causing a goofy grin to spread across his face. Seeing his expression, she suppressed a giggle and looked away. Okay. He was cute.

"They didn't need to drug me."

"Oh yes they did."

He had awoken calmly enough, recognized her, smiled. Then he quickly became agitated, even more so when the middle aged doctor started poking and prodding him. He seemed incredibly confused and leery of the doctor. Several large men were called to help when Kenshin frantically pushed himself out of bed, knocking over one of the many machines in the room in the process. This began a hurricane of pushing and shouting, as he grabbed her and attempted their escape. The men barely restrained him and managed to get him back into the bed, but only after an injection of something that was now making him simultaneously a comedic genius and the most annoying person she had ever met. _And I thought __I__ didn't like hospitals..._ she thought to herself, recalling how surprisingly strong and agile he had been.

She looked up again to see him still staring at her, smile no longer wide.

"Did this one scare you, Miss Kaoru?"

"It's okay, Kenshin. Don't worry about me.", she answered, a bit surprised at his suddenly serious question, "But you should probably apologize to the orderlies."

He nodded thoughtfully, "You are right. That you are. This one is sorry to have caused trouble." Turning his head around to view more of the room he added, "The hospitals here are quite different than back home, that they are."

She paused for a moment, considering his state. Now might actually be the best time to find out a few things.

"Kenshin, I was wondering... Where are you from?", she ventured.

"This one has been wandering Japan for many years. That question is a bit difficult to answer...", he responded, turning to look at her quizzically.

"Oh. So, you just wander?"

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"It's very bright in here, that it is.", he said, shielding his eyes.

He appeared to be unable to focus, although she sensed that he was trying to avoid answering any undue questions. Kaoru looked toward the window briefly, then down at her hands.

"Did something happen to you?"

Kenshin paused as an uncomfortable silence permeated the room.

"This one does not mean to worry you, Miss Kaoru. You have been very kind indeed."

She shifted in her chair, trying to decide her next turn of phrase.

"I'm not trying to push you or anything, and it doesn't matter to me what happened... I just wanted to know if I should take you home...", she blinked, "To YOUR home, I mean. I certainly didn't mean... anything else. I didn't mean to assume that you would be... ugh... yeah...", she stammered, her face warming. She was pretty sure she was turning red, causing her to sigh inwardly.

She took a breath and tried again, "What I mean to say is that I don't want you to feel pressured to talk about anything you don't want to. It doesn't matter to me what happened, I just wanted to know if I could help."

The man looked at her with a soft but distant look before responding.

"You are very kind, that you are."

She caught his gaze for a brief moment, before resuming her careful watch on anything other than him.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?", she asked quietly.

"No.", he answered simply, returning his gaze to the white ceiling tiles above his bed, "But this one appears to be looking for someone, that I am."

She brightened, "Oh. Okay. Who is it?"

"This one is unsure. We have never met. I think.", he furrowed his brow, "Although maybe we have..."

_Oookay. Memory loss?_

"You aren't sure?"

"Apparently not?" he responded, squinting and rubbing his forehead.

It was at this moment the frustrating intern made her appearance, flanked by two large orderlies. They appeared to be poised for any sudden movements. Kaoru couldn't help but roll her eyes at the ridiculous size of the men accompanying her... although Kenshin _did_ attack his last doctor so she grudgingly conceded to their decision.

The perfect little intern was a tall, thin, dark-eyed beauty with flawless skin and shiny black hair. She swept gracefully into the room, was the picture of glamour and sophistication, and made Kaoru feel like a manly slack-jawed yokel. Kaoru hated her immediately.

Kenshin looked up at the lady, _Megumi was it?_, and smiled innocently as the large men crossed their arms over their chests, menacingly. The intern appeared unaffected and unafraid as she read over his chart.

"I trust you can behave yourself, Mr. Himura?", she stated, sounding mildly amused.

"This one is very sorry for the trouble caused. It will not be repeated.", he winced, a sheepish look on his face.

"Well then", she said, closing his file and pausing to eye him up and down.

"The doctor is ready to sign your discharge papers...", She announced, turning to walk away, "...Sir Ken.", she added, smiling coyly as she exited the room.

She didn't know why exactly, but this particular act brought Kaoru _very_ close to beating the woman with the closest metal object she could find. Instead she settled for stomping to the door and yelling a comment on her unprofessional behavior and grumbling her way back. When she looked up she saw Kenshin staring at her, surprise and a bit of fear evident in his wide-eyed expression.

"What? She had it coming.", Kaoru huffed, crossing her arms and flopping back into the chair.

She was too busy imagining the many ways she could smack that flirty smile off of the intern's perfect face to notice Kenshin's hidden smile and quiet chuckle.

-o0-0o-

They walked past the hospital reception desk and outside into the bright sunny winter's day. A cloudless day with a soft breeze blowing, it was as though the blizzard of the night before had never happened, save the deep snow that had been left behind. Blinding white light reflected off of each tiny crystal of the newly fallen snow, dazzling the duo as they walked the short distance to the somewhat deserted parking lot.

Kaoru had been given some medications to give to her guest: one an antibiotic, and one to 'keep him calm'. She wasn't sure what kind of man they thought he was exactly, but she couldn't help but feel a bit slighted when the doctors prescribed it despite her insistence that she'd be fine taking care of him. And she just about lost her mind when the intern offered to stop in and check on his progress. Forget Kenshin, if Megumi stepped one foot inside her house, Kaoru would be the one in need of sedation. And Megumi would be the one in need of a doctor.

She led him toward her car and opened the door for him, waiting for him to get inside. Instead, he watched her open the door and peered at the interior.

She scrunched her brow at him. Her car wasn't that dirty. Well, maybe a bit.

She cleared her throat, causing the red haired man to look up at her in surprise. Realization dawning on his face, he plunked himself onto the seat, as she closed the door behind him and began to clean off the car.

He looked, for all the world, as if he was seeing everything around him for the first time. As she brushed snow off of the car windows outside, she watched him carefully examine the buttons and knobs on the dashboard in front of him, before shifting his gaze to the other cars in the parking lot.

_He must still be pretty stoned_, she thought with a sigh. Maybe they should both head home for a nap. She knew she needed one, and with the way he was so carefully considering an old soda can from the floor of her car, he could use one too.

The drive through the neighborhood was no better. Once or twice Kaoru nearly laughed at the way Kenshin pressed his nose against the glass to better watch something through the car window. Even the band-aid the hospital intern had placed over his IV wound seemed to be an object of great importance. She had to admit that his child-like awe, albeit confusing, was pretty endearing, and she found herself feeling warmer and warmer in his presence. She had never really felt much of a connection to the people around her. She did with her mother and father, of course, and she even felt it for Yahiko... but there were very few other people in the world that she would consider 'close', like they or she were somehow alien. And yet, this odd red-haired stranger who, for most of their time together had been catatonic- until he attacked a doctor and handful of assistants in some sort of delusional rage- seemed familiar and calming. He made her feel at ease and, despite their strange circumstances, like he was one of the only real and actual pieces in her life. It was as though he verified for her that the majority of her life was a deception, plastic, manufactured...

She knew she wanted him around her. More than anything she had ever encountered.

But that was silly, the realistic part of her brain told her. Love at first sight, or whatever this was, was a childish fairytale told to keep little girls in check and obsessed with marriage.

And she had never been that girl. Nor did she want to start now.

Nope. This was silly. Things would move as they should, and right now things should move toward a hot bath and a long nap.

-o0-0o-

Kenshin wasn't tired.

Although it was true that he hadn't really slept, he was never really one who needed much sleep anyway. He did, however, want to find his things. His clothing, since all he had worn in the time he was with Kaoru had been a light robe, but especially his sword. He was still in a haze from the drug the doctor had given him, but it had thankfully begun to wear off allowing him a better grasp of reality, such as it was.

When he got back to the house he let Kaoru make him a bed in the main living area with the majority of the fluffy blankets that had been earlier discarded. Shortly afterward he allowed himself to get tucked into his newly created sanctuary, never fully intending to sleep. He did however want Kaoru to sleep and he knew that as long as she thought he was awake it would never happen. So he let her tuck him in, and waited for her footsteps to leave the room and the door to her bedroom to open and close.

He opened his eyes, slowly drew back the covers, and began his quiet search of the house.

It was a small house with sparse decoration, but clean and had a pleasant feel. It had a number of small rooms that were made in the western style, closed in with heavy locking doors, but he was a bit surprised to see the obvious Japanese influence on the decor and in one room he even found a small family shrine. He smiled at the peacefulness and homeyness of it all. He had no trouble believing the idiom that a home is a reflection of the owner, as he found himself smiling fondly, recalling Kaoru tucking him into his homemade bed and pausing as though she were going to kiss him goodnight. He shook his head, quietly chuckling. It was very sweet, but the innocence of the whole event made him remind himself how very young she really was. He was reading into things best left alone.

He snuck down the hallway, carefully opening doors as he went until he opened one that revealed a small dark room that held two large white metal boxes with hatches of some sort, as well as a variety of things in bottles on several metal shelves, and his damp clothing in a messy ball on the floor.

He made a grumbling noise and gingerly picked up his forlorn clothing, ineffectually brushing off some ground in dirt. He wondered how quietly he could do laundry...

He searched the various shelves and corners of the room for his sword, finding nothing. Stopping at Yahiko's room he pressed his ear to the door, listened for a few seconds, and hearing nothing he entered the room slowly.

The boy's room was a crumpled mess of sheets, clothing, dishes, and empty containers. He shook his head at the sight, thinking how his own Master would had knocked him senseless for even dreaming of treating his home in this manner.

"Miss Kaoru might be in over her head...", he mused, dedicating himself to having a man-to-man talk with Yahiko about cleanliness.

Sighing he halfheartedly searched the boy's room, sensing that Yahiko would not be the type to hide it. Based on all he had seen over the past day or so, Kenshin sensed that Yahiko was not a reserved individual. He would have mounted it on the wall above his bed and proudly shown it off to anyone he possibly could.

Which only left Kaoru's room.

Wincing, Kenshin remembered the threats Kaoru had hurled at a certain medical intern, ultimately decided against opening her door and getting caught rummaging through her room while she slept.

_Laundry it is!_

Still holding his soggy clothing, he recalled that he hadn't seen a washtub in any of the rooms. Deciding that the washroom would be the best choice, he ventured inward and looked around. The ceramic basin below the spigot that housed running water also had a bar of soap beside it. _ Perfect._

Merrily, albeit awkwardly, he washed his laundry and draped it over various fixtures to dry, before looking up to see a dumbfounded Yahiko standing in the doorway. Kenshin smiled, wiping his hands dry on his robe.

"Did you need this room? Should this one leave?", he asked the boy who was still eyeballing him.

_Was it that he had never seen a __**man**__ do laundry?_

"No. I'm good.", the boy answered, pausing before speaking again.

"Why are you washing your clothes in the sink? That's kinda weird."

"... is it?", Kenshin asked, hesitating. He didn't know what else to say. Was there a tub somewhere that he missed? A separate building outside that was dedicated to washing clothing? He sighed. He wished he knew more about western culture. Hopefully his slip-up wouldn't be seen as disrespectful...

"This one apologizes. Is there a better place I should hang my clothes?"

"Meh. I'm sure it's fine.", Yahiko said over his shoulder, retreating to the livingroom.

Kenshin let out a breath and followed him, sitting next to Yahiko who had already flopped on the couch. They sat in awkward silence until Yahiko spoke.

"So, I hear your name's Kenshin."

"Yes sir."

"Mine's Yahiko Myojin.", the boy stated, proudly.

"It is nice to meet you.", Kenshin responded with a slight bow and a smile.

Yahiko looked at him for another moment before his curiosity got the better of him, and attacked.

"So... Where-are-you-from?-Why-were-you-frozen?-Why-are-you-dressed-weird?-Why-do-you-talk-so-weird?-Are-you-staying?-Can-you-cook-more?-Cause-Kaoru's-cooking-really-sucks.-Can-you-"

He went on.

And on.

And on like a runaway train, until finally Kenshin put a hand on the excited boy's shoulder, silencing him.

"You certainly have a lot of energy, that you do.", He chuckled.

"Yeah, well... So what.", Yahiko barked, trying to hide his embarrassment over his outburst.

He crossed his arms across his chest and faced Kenshin, menacingly as Kenshin smiled again and put his hands up, surrendering to the growling boy.

"You have all these bruises and Kaoru was really worried.", he stated, looking away, "I wasn't worried at all."

"Well, this one is sorry to have worried her. There is no need. My body is healing well.", he responded, gently, "... and in truth, this one is unsure of the cause of these bruises."

"You don't know how you got them?", another voice from the hallway spoke.

The inhabitants of the livingroom turned to see a bleary-eyed Kaoru entering.

"Miss Kaoru...", Kenshin opened his mouth to speak again.

"I couldn't sleep.", she cut him off, "Too much on my mind."

"Ah.", the wanderer replied, feeling completely responsible.

However, Kaoru being awake was helpful. The person who most likely knew about his sword may be a bit sleepy, but ready to speak, it seemed. He decided the best approach would be the direct approach.

"Miss Kaoru, did you happen to find my sword?"

She looked at him blankly.

"Sword? Um... no?"

"You have a sword? That's so cool.", Yahiko blurted, unable to restrain his outburst.

"Yes. This one has a sword that is very important. This one feels a bit empty without it, I'm afraid.", he responded, eyes on Kaoru, "This one thinks it should be where Miss Kaoru found me?"

_Sure._

She stared at him for a moment, no discernible emotion on her face. She turned and walked calmly to the front door and into the mud-room, gathered her coat and boots, and exited the house. Moments later her car started and she had gone.

The boys sat in stunned silence, unsure of what just happened, as Kaoru Kamiya drove wordlessly, a million questions in her mind, to the parking lot of a certain market.

-o0-0o-

She stared into the pile she had unearthed. There it was. Kenshin's sword, just like he said it would be. A worn katana with black woven handle and wooden sheath lay neatly upon the packed snow. She picked it up with one mittened hand, rubbing snow off of the sheath with the other as she inspected it.

It was worn, that much was true, but the blade was very well taken care of, and shone like new. Something about it somehow felt wrong. This katana was done in an old style, the way swords were once made for the samurai, and did not look like many of the swords made today... but the thing that caught her attention the most was the blade: The cutting edge was on the inside of the sword, and not the outside. She had little to no experience with real swords, just what she had seen in shrines and museums, but she was pretty sure the cutting edge was supposed to be on the other side. That would mean what? It was decorative? Then why was it in such an old style? An original handmade sword like this one would be really expensive, so why have it out in a snowstorm? It couldn't be used for fighting. It couldn't be properly sheathed, nor would it cut anything...

What an odd thing to have.

It really was beautiful though...

-o0-0o-

He really hoped she was coming back.

She had no reason not to, he supposed, but he still really hoped it never-the-less. And just as he'd always done, whenever he worried he cleaned. He wasn't sure if her reaction had been because she was tired, angry, scared...? He hoped it wasn't scared, otherwise he would need to leave to give her some peace of mind. _Peace is what she deserves_, he decided as his thoughts turned to where he would go in a foreign winter if he did need to leave her. He tried to tell himself that it was solely the cold weather that inhibited him, and not the warmth he felt inside her home.

As he washed the cups and plates from their previous meal, he gave himself a mental swat on the back of the head for obsessing over something without merit. He could almost hear his old Master calling him an idiot. That thought alone made him shudder, _After all of these years he's STILL in my head. Ugh._

But it wasn't very long before he heard her car pull into the driveway and the car door slam.

She entered the mud-room, changed her boots to slippers, hung up her coat, slapped the sword onto the counter beside him, and stomped off to her room stating, "I don't want to know."

He was going to guess 'angry'.

**Wow, these chapters are getting tougher by the minute. I literally sat down to write this chapter 4 or 5 times and erased most of it with each attempt. Oh well, onward!**

**Thanks for the reviews guys! Please keep it up. It keeps me thinking about the next chapter and forces me to move my butt. I need the kick sometimes. :) Nicely though. Nice kicks.**

Compucles** – **More talking happening for sure, but the big reveals are coming up. Kenshin hasn't figured out where he is yet. Once he does it will be interesting... And yeah, totally will beat out Captain America... If I can help it! :) And yes, the sword is finally accounted for. I had to giggle because you've been asking about it. I hoped I wouldn't disappoint you too much as, yes, it was just hanging out in a snowbank. Nothing special.

J Luc Pitard** - **I totally agree with most (if not all) of your comments. As I wrote above, I "fixed" last chapter a bit. I was holding back a bit on that chapter as I knew he was going to have freak-out #1 (as I've been calling it)... wait for the next one. It'll be soon...

Allemagne - Lol I still pause when I try to decide if Kenshin is going to say "this one" or if he's just too freaked-out/angry to remember not to say "I"... He's just so polite it's cute. Always loved that about him. And I'm glad you liked it so far.

Scarred Sword Heart - Yes. Yes he does. You've all been very patient. :)

LadyIwashi - I really can't thank you enough. I have never gotten any feedback on any of my writing in... oh... ever. So this is a bit of a big deal for me. I really appreciate the support. Truly.

Lita - Glad you liked it. The Weaver concept is one of those things where I had a picture but no narrative and it was driving me (more) insane. But it finally worked and people seemed to have liked it well enough so yay for that! And life is life and it will always be busy, but I've got the patience if you do... :)

butterflybg – Thank you! I'm glad you like it. School work is a pain, and this year is the killer year in which everyone drops out, apparently. So woo-hoo. But we all must soldier on and this is a fun way to vent my impending insanity...

Guest- not sure if this is "Guest" as in "a visitor with no username" or "Guest" as in "I named myself 'Guest'" (which BTW would be totally cool). Either way... to Guest or "Guest": Thanks. And yes, he certainly has a knack for it, doesn't he?

**Thanks again to all! Please read and review: It makes me all happy.**


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